BRAZIL: Coup

The national elections were only a month away. Brazil seethed with rumors: 1) that Dictator Getulio Vargas (no candidate) would find some way to remain in power; 2) that the supporters of Opposition Candidate General Eduardo Gomes, doubting the chances of an honest election, would stage a revolt.

This week Vargas backers rioted in the streets. Tough Joao Alberto Lins de Barros, chief of the powerful federal police force, resigned, and Getulio’s sinister, trigger-happy brother, Benjamin, replaced him. Canny old War Minister General Pedro Aurelio Goes Monteiro also stepped out. The commander of the Rio de Janeiro military district ordered all enlisted Army, Navy and Air Force personnel to report to their barracks. The city tensed; U.S. officials ordered all U.S. sailors off the streets.

When Army tanks rolled into the Presidential Palace, Brazilians knew for sure that somebody was staging a coup. Shortly thereafter, Getulio Vargas, sitting in an automobile, rode out of his 15-year home.

Into Rio’s Mayrink Veiga radio station strode a general and a lieutenant carrying a submachine gun. Their announcement: “Vargas has abdicated.” As an old presidential decree provided, Supreme Court Justice Jose Linhares had assumed the Presidency.

Ex-police Chief Joao Alberto took back his old office. Brazilians waited to see whether wily Getulio Vargas had been outsmarted, or had again outsmarted them.