The Best of the Bureau/The_Best_of_the_Bureau_Bureau_Development_Inc._1992.iso/dp/0012/00121.txt

Text File | 1992-08-07 | 35KB | 543 lines

$Unique_ID{bob00121}
$Pretitle{}
$Title{Brazil
Chapter 1D.   The Vargas Era, 1930-45}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Jan Knippers Black}
$Affiliation{HQ, Department of the Army}
$Subject{vargas
government
president
state
war
new
elections
paulo
sao
constitution}
$Date{1982}
$Log{}
Title:       Brazil
Book:        Brazil, A Country Study
Author:      Jan Knippers Black
Affiliation: HQ, Department of the Army
Date:        1982

Chapter 1D.   The Vargas Era, 1930-45

The Provisional Government

     Vargas established and headed a provisional government that lasted from
November 1930 until 1934. All legislative bodies at every level were abolished
and were replaced by appointees of the provisional government. Vargas used
veterans of the tenente movement extensively in his administration, although
the original composition of the provisional government reflected the range of
political groups that had supported the successful revolution, and military
officers again headed the ministries of war and navy.

     One of the government's continuing problems was what to do about the
coffee glut. The decision was made to try to maintain prices by destroying
excess stocks, which were burned or thrown into the sea. Further, the
extension of the land planted in coffee was prohibited for three years.
Another major political issue was whether, or how soon, to hold elections for
a constituent assembly that would draft a new constitution. On this issue
there were essentially two positions: that of the liberal constitutionalists,
who were strong in the cities, especially in Sao Paulo, and that of the
tenentes, now organized in the "3rd of October Club," who wanted Vargas to
stay in power and put through various reforms without either having to secure
legislation or being opposed by recalcitrant state governments. Vargas
sympathized with the tenente position but found it politically advantageous to
stay in the background. On February 24, 1932, Vargas published a new electoral
code, thus seeming to identify himself with the demands of constitutionalists
for elections. At the same time, however, he apparently encouraged the
organization of a raid against the Diario Carioca, a pro-constitutionalist
newspaper in Rio. Vargas made it clear that he supported the tenentes by
naming their candidate, General Espiritu Santo Cardoso as minister of war,
replacing General Leite de Castro, and by retiring General Bartoldo Linger of
Mato Grosso, also opposed by the tenentes. Four students were killed in an
anti-Vargas demonstration in Sao Paulo, and the liberal constitutionalist
forces, spearheaded by leaders from Sao Paulo, prepared for armed revolt.

     The opposition was strongest in Sao Paulo. Although Vargas had opponents
everywhere, in Sao Paulo his former enemies-those who had supported the
candidacy of Julio Prestes against him in 1930-were joined by his previous
supporters in that state who had been alienated by the arbitrary behavior of
Joao Alberto, the interventor (temporary governor, appointed by and an agent
of the government). The police chief also succeeded in alarming the middle
class in Sao Paulo by organizing a popular militia force. The last-minute
removal of Joao Alberto by Vargas failed to eliminate the resentment, and on
July 9, 1932, the revolt in Sao Paulo began. In Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do
Sul, minor revolts in sympathy with the liberal constitutionalists took place,
led by the patriarchs of the First Republic, Borges de Medeiros and Bernardes.
Neither constituted a serious threat.

     In Sao Paulo the efforts of the revolutionaries were more serious, but
most of the army stayed loyal to the provisional government, and the revolt
was crushed. The rebels in Sao Paulo held out for two months against the
onslaught of federal troops, who resorted to aerial bombardment. The use of
bombardment from the air, then a shocking novelty, led to the suicide of the
great Brazilian aviation pioneer, Alberto Santos Dumont.

     In typical fashion Vargas moved to conciliate the defeated paulistas.
The federal government assumed responsibility for paying the bonds issued by
the rebels to finance their movement, and Vargas scheduled elections for the
constituent assembly, which took place on May 3, 1933. The elections were
more honest than any held under the First Republic, and the assembly began
work in November 1933. In July 1934 the assembly completed the new
constitution, converted itself into the Chamber of Deputies of the new system,
and elected Vargas as constitutional president for the term 1934-38.

     The constitution of 1934 combined ideas deriving from quite different
schools of thought: traditional Brazilian liberalism, republicanism, and
federalism; European social democracy; and corporatism. The constitution
maintained Brazil's federal structure, along with the separation of powers
system, but it eliminated the post of vice president. The two-chamber
legislature was continued; two senators were to be elected by each state for
eight-year terms, and deputies were to be elected by proportional
representation from each state for a term of four years. At Vargas'
insistence, corporatist representation was added, in that about 10 percent of
the membership of the chamber was to be elected by labor unions and employers.
Voting was to be secret, and women were given the vote for the first time in
Brazilian history.

     "Social" features of the constitution included authorization for the
federal government to set minimum wages, the eight-hour day, social insurance,
and paid holidays. Primary education was made free and compulsory. In
addition, various nationalist provisions were included. The federal
government was given the authority to restrict immigration, a provision
probably aimed against the Japanese. Foreign enterprises were to have at least
two-thirds Brazilian employees and were forbidden to own newspapers,
magazines, or radio stations. Special tribunals were established to protect
individual liberties and to arbitrate labor disputes.

Economic Crisis and Extremism

     The constitutional government was bedeviled by the continued world
economic crisis and by the growth of extreme political movements of right and
left, as was taking place in Europe at the time. Vargas shrewdly manipulated
these movements, and the popular reaction against them, to prepare the way
for his perpetuation in power. Although without a professed ideological
commitment, Vargas drew his political orientation from the positivist
tradition of Rio Grande do Sul, the socialist and corporatist ideas in vogue
in Europe during the 1930s, and possibly from his own military training,
although he had not followed a military career. His orientation might be
considered authoritarian populism, and in this he was not far from the
thinking of the tenentes. Nevertheless, he was always pragmatic and
opportunistic in his policies.

     On the right, the Brazilian fascist movement was known as the
Integralistas (Acao Integralista Brasileira-AIB) and was led by Plinio
Salgado. It bore all the familiar fascist trappings of colored shirts (green),
street rallies, anti-Semitism, and straight-arm salutes. Vargas kept in touch
with the Integralistas and used them for his own purposes. On the left, the
PCdoB started a broad antifascist "popular front" movement called the
National Liberation Alliance (Alianca Nacional Libertadora); Luis Carlos
Prestes was its president. On March 30, 1935, Congress passed a national
security law giving the government special powers to act against "subversive"
activities. Vargas used these powers on July 13 to raid the headquarters of
the National Liberation Alliance and seize documents indicating that the
alliance was supported by the international communist movement. The government
proceeded to arrest the leaders of the alliance and of the PCdoB. The more
extreme members of the movement thereupon organized an armed revolt, which
took place in November 1935 in Natal, Recife, and Rio de Janeiro. The revolt
played into Vargas' hands