The Death of Dr. Vargas
All the personal, political and economic elements of a typical Latin American crisis were present in Brazil this week when a group of senior military and air force officers deposed President Vargas. His subsequent suicide was the only unusual item. In spite of many promises, Dr. Vargas had failed to check Brazil's ever-advancing inflation. The workers, who had idolized this wily horseman of the southern plains, were restive; and when, with forthcoming elections in mind, Dr. Vargas decreed a compulsory increase in wages, he further aggravated the inflationary trend while at the same time antagonising the employers and the right-wing section of his own party. Corruption—which is endemic among Latin. Americans, who look upon it as a natural means of softening the harshness of the law—had developed in the presidential entourage on such a scale that even the tolerant Brazilians considered it excessive. Nor was the element of violence lacking. At the beginning of August an air force officer was accidentally killed by gunmen whose object was to assassinate a highly-respected newspaper editor, Senhor Carlos Lacerda, who had long conducted a fierce crusade against corruption. It was reported by the air force, who undertook their own investigation of the shooting of the officer, that the assassins were members of Dr. Vargas's personal bodyguard. Once again it has been demonstrated that the coup d'etat must still be accepted as a normal part of Latin American political procedure. To Europeans and North Americans, of course, it seems extraordinary that Brazil, with its vast and rapidly growing modern industries, should be politically so immature: but so long as it remains so, the coup d'etat will no doubt be indispensable as an instrument of change.„
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