January 1, 1963: Brazilian Voters Approve Return to Parliamentary System

Brazilian President Joao Goulart holds a national plebiscite on whether Brazil should have a presidential or parliamentary government (a recent constitutional amendment required the president to share power with a council of ministers responsible to the legislature). Voters decide overwhelmingly to restore to Goulart full presidential powers under the 1946 constitution, despite the CIA spending close to $20 million in an effort to thwart his election. [Counterspy, 4/1979; Keen, 1992, pp. 357]