of Brazil's rule of law. Additionally, that year the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB), the only legally allowed opposition party, had significant electoral victories. The global economic pressure also led to an internal crisis within the government. The interventionism and developmentalism that characterized the regime led to clashes during the Geisel administration (197479) between the nationalized industry sectors and the private multinationals, and divided the military into liberal and statist wings. These events pressured the military government to slowly begin a strategy to transition Brazil back to a democratic system, a process that is known in Brazilian politics as the abertura (opening). In 1978 the government rescinded the AI-5 effective 1 January 1979, which opened the door for popular movements to protest the government without fear of retaliation. Part of the abertura plan included the Party Reform Bill of 1979, which abolished the ruling pro-military party ARENA and the MDB and allowed the registration of new political parties. The bill was passed under protests by MDB members of congress, since it divided the anti-ARENA block into several parties and thus diluted the opposition. ARENA reorganized into the Social Democratic Party (PDS), while MDB chose to retain their identity by simply adding "party" to its name, thus forming the PMDB. Earlier attacks Despite the gradual process to redemocratize Brazil, several groups within the military mounted a resistance to the abertura, mainly those involved in suppressing dissidents through force and espionage. After Geisel was succeeded by João Figueiredo, the last ruler of Brazil's military dictatorship, in 1979, the military made efforts to preserve their power by covering up the violence and tortures committed by the regime from its inception in 1964. Clandestine acts of terror committed by army members and those linked to the military spiked in the late 1970s, 1980 and the early months of 1981. In 1976 the right-wing Brazilian Anti-Communist Alliance claimed responsibility for ten bombings that happened that year. In 1976 Bishop Adriano Hipólito of Nova Iguaçú, Rio de Janeiro was kidnapped by local members of the military and was targeted in a bombing in 1979. In 1978 and 1979 several terrorist attacks were carried out against members of the opposition in the state of Minas Gerais. According to historian Maria Helena Moreira Alves, the year of 1980 saw 46 acts of right-wing terrorism. Notably, in September 1980, a letter bomb was sent to the Brazilian Bar Association headquarters,