It is odd to use the two words together, but on this day in 1930 my favorite fascist in a bloodless coup détat in Brazil ousted Washington Luís Pereira de Sousa, the last President of the First Republic. Getúlio Vargas was then installed as provisional president. Getúlio Dornelles Vargas would serve as President of Brazil, first as dictator, from 1930 to 1945, and then in a democratically elected term from 1951 until his suicide in 1954. Vargas led Brazil for 18 years, the most of any President, and second in Brazilian history only to Emperor Pedro II among heads of government. He favored nationalism, industrialization, centralization, social welfare and populism – for the latter, Vargas won the nickname O Pai dos Pobres (Portuguese for The Father of the Poor). He was a proponent of workers rights as well as a staunch anti-communist. Vargas was brought to power in a coup that ended the first republic, and sought to transform Brazil from a plantation-based economy into an industrialized powerhouse under the guidance of government intervention. His embrace of developmentalism was expressed not only in strong rhetoric, but also by lending protection to domestic industries and in a heavy investment budget aimed at kick-starting strategic sectors and setting up the necessary infrastructure. He also utilized corporatist appraoches pioneered by Mussolini, although he later emulated the policies of FDR, but he did support the creation of the Integralist movement as a power base. In the Unpleasantries between Fascists, he sided wih Churchill and FDR, as Brazil had a vastly greater balance of trade and interest with the Anglosphere than with Mitteleuropa. This, however, encouraged the anti-authoritarian forces in his own country to such an extent he promised to step down and allow free elections after the war, a promise he kept. That is the biggest reason to like him, his policies actually worked to do what he said he wished to do. When he left the Estado Novo presidency, the economic surplus of Brazil was high and the industry was growing. After 4 years, however, pro-US President Gaspar Dutra wasted huge quantities of money protecting foreign industry (mostly US), and distanced himself from the ideas of nationalism and modernization of the country. Vargas returned to politics in 1951 and through a free and secret ballot was re-elected President of the Republic. Hampered by the economic crisis created by Dutra, Vargas pursued a nationalist policy, turning to the countrys natural resources and away from foreign dependency. Vargas political adversaries initiated a crisis. and the generals demanded his resignation. In a last-ditch effort Vargas called a special cabinet meeting on the eve of August 24, but rumors spread that the armed forces officers were implacable. Allegedly feeling the situation was beyond his control, Vargas shot himself in the chest on August 24, 1954 in the Catete Palace with a Colt Police Positive Special. I suspect murder. The famous last lines read, Serenely, I take my first step on the road to eternity and I leave life to enter history. On exhibit in the Palace is his nightshirt with a bullet hole in the breast. The popular commotion that his death caused was so huge, that it destroyed the ambitions of his enemies for many years, among them rightists, anti-nationalists, and pro-United States elements. https://youtube/watch?v=Ekj-zmB7sY8
Posted on: Fri, 24 Oct 2014 16:23:39 +0000
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