Overview[]
Café com leite politics (Portuguese pronunciation: [kaˈfɛ kõ ˈlejtʃi], "coffee with milk") was a term that referred to the domination of Brazilian politics under the Old Republic (1889–1930) by the landed gentries of São Paulo (dominated by the coffee industry) and Minas Gerais (dominated by dairy interests). São Paulo's coffee interests were by far the stronger of the pair.
The name alludes to the popular coffee beverage café com leite, "coffee with milk", referring to the states' respectively dominant industry.