“Four days in September”: the kidnapping of ambassador Charles Burke Elbrick and the negotiations between Brazil and United States

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the kidnapping of the US Ambassador to Brazil, Charles Burke Elbrick, in 1969, by ALN and MR-8. At the same time that this action is “revered” and brought to light by its boldness and originality, there is a certain silencing of what in fact the kidnapping rep-resented not only internally, but, above all, for the relations between Brazil and the United States and for the understanding of the figure of Elbrick at that moment. From the analysis of the sources produced, in both countries, it was possible to map the subjects involved in the negotiations, the tensions and conflicts presented, in addition to the identification of two distinct tem-poralities: the debates that took place in the days that the ab-duction took place and the subsequent discussions until the time the Ambassador was removed from office in 1970.