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Brazilian Labor Party
Brazilian Labor Party
The Brazilian Labor Party (Partido Trabalhista Brasileiro--PTB),
a pre-1964 leftist party, was resurrected as center-rightist in
1980. Two factions--one led by Leonel Brizola and the other led
by Ivette Vargas--vied for leadership of the PTB. Although twenty
of the twenty-three federal deputies who originally joined the PTB
were brizolistas , Ivette Vargas was allied with General Golbery
do Couto e Silva, chief of Ernesto Geisel's Civil Household of the
Presidency, who pressured the TSE (Superior Electoral Court) to
give the label to Vargas's
pro-government faction in May 1980.
The PTB elected thirteen deputies in 1982 and became the junior
member in a coalition with the PDS to give the latter a majority
in the Chamber of Deputies. In 1986 the PTB elected seventeen federal
deputies, and in 1990 it elected two governors, four senators, and
thirty-eight federal deputies. The party became a convenient election
vehicle for politicians without space in the larger parties.
In 1994 the PTB formed a coalition with the PFL and PSDB in support
of Cardoso's candidacy. In that election, the PTB elected one governor,
three senators, and thirty-one federal deputies--a slightly worse
record than in 1990. In 1995 the PTB remained loyal to its coalition
with the PSDB and PFL in support of the Cardoso
government and occupied two ministries.
Data as of April 1997
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