Chapter 8: Prestes, Capanema, and Gilberto Freyre Take the Stand: The “Yellow Mafia” Splits the Constituent Assembly in Two

Abstract

At the National Constituent Assembly, Amendment 3165 to prohibit Japanese immigration in the Brazilian Constitution is narrowly defeated with the tie-breaking vote cast by Assembly President Fernando Melo Viana. At the Anchieta Island Penitentiary, thousands of Japanese prisoners remain in custody when another political breakthrough changes their fortunes. Controversial fixer Tsuguo Kishimoto brokers the release of Junji Kikawa and numerous others in the effort to secure the Japanese community’s support for Adhemar de Barros as a candidate for governor of São Paulo. Once elected in January 1947, the wily Adhemar commits to helping the organization with its legal and financial woes, despite the fact that the majority of the Japanese Brazilian community didn’t actually vote for him.