The waiting temporality associated with the intervals imposed by the geographic distances to the colonial government bureaucracy installed the lives of inhabitants of Goiás in a transitory environment, consisting of provisional events, where the protagonists must cope with uncertainties, while they waited for the King of Portugal's decisions. With the sudden death of captain-general João Manoel de Melo, the formation of an interim Government appeared as a strategy of local elites that sought to control the waiting time and fill the power vacuum left by the absence of the Governor. In this scenario, the events were perceived as interactions of forces, the tensions of which could temporarily transform the established relationships in the Empire's hierarchy.
Portuguese empire; temporalities; distance; waiting time; Goiás.