In 1970 Anivaldo Padilha was a 30-year-old, up-and-coming lay leader in the Methodist Church. He was the director of the Methodist Church of Brazil Youth Department, which was supported by the World Council of Churches. In 1967 he was a member of Acão Popular, a left-wing organization, when he was studying at the University of São Paulo. He did not see a contradiction between his left-wing militancy and church activism. He was arrested on February 28, 1970, and taken to Operacão Bandeirante, where was tortured to give up information about Acão Popular. He then moved to Washington after going to Uruguay and Argentina. Brady Tyson and another Methodist minister helped him get a visa to extend his stay in the United States, where he met fellow Acão Popular member Marcos Arruda. Read the DOPS file on Anivaldo Padilha.