Isidoro Dias Lopes

Lopes was born in the city of Dom Pedrito, Rio Grande do Sul, on 30 June 1865, son of José Tavares Bastos Rios and Jacinta Barros Lopes.^[2] He joined the army in 1883 through the Military School of Porto Alegre, completed a course in artillery and was promoted to lieutenant in 1891.^[2] He supported the movement to bring the Empire of Brazil to an end. In 1893, he left the army and took part in the Federalist Revolution in Rio Grande do Sul, against the government of president Floriano Peixoto. After the defeat of the federalists, in 1895, he went into exile in Paris. In 1896, he benefited from an amnesty and returned to Brazil, resuming his position in the army in Rio de Janeiro.^[1][3]

Dias Lopes was one of the leaders of the 1924 revolt. He had started the conspiracy against president Artur Bernardes the previous year after a reform of the military, by which time he was already a general. In 1924, he was elected leader by the conspirators and spent time organising forces in Paraná and Rio Grande do Sul. Together with Joaquim do Nascimento Fernandes Távora, he planned to occupy the city of São Paulo. Armed conflict broke out there on 5 July 1924, scheduled to coincide with the second anniversary of the uprising at Fort Copacabana.

The rebels took over the quarters of the Public Force of São Paulo and the 2nd Military Region and took their commanders prisoner. They were assisted by sympathisers such as pt:Miguel Costa, a major in the Public Force. This action forced the governor of São Paulo, Carlos de Campos, to abandon the city, effectively surrendering it to rebel control. However, following several days of unsuccessful attempts to negotiate a settlement, federal troops surrounded the rebels and laid siege to the city, bombing it with artillery and aircraft. The bombardment and shooting by federal forces killed hundreds of innocent civilians.

Towards the end of July, government forces began to prevail in the fighting, and Lopes ordered the rebels to fall back in the direction of Paraná. There they linked up with rebel units led by Luís Carlos Prestes to form the so-called Prestes Column, which carried out guerilla campaigns in the Brazilian interior. Eventually, Isidoro decided to go into exile in Argentina, where he continued to voice his support for the rebels. Because of his prestige among those forces, he became known as “Marshal of the Revolution”.^{[1][2][4][5][6][3]}

In 1927, the campaigns by the Prestes Column ended, and some of its leaders joined Lopes in Argentina. In time, most, including Lopes, were marginalised, and the disunity in the rebel movement left only Carlos Prestes as the recognised leader.^[1]