This book focuses upon the period from the end of World War II to the inauguration of General Eurico Gaspar Dutra as president of Brazil. It is concerned principally with depicting the maneuvers of Getúlio Vargas to retain power despite the commitment of General Dutra and the majority of military and civilian leaders to redemocratization in Brazil. As portrayed by the author, Vargas supported the nomination of military candidates to represent the two major parties because he wanted to split the armed forces. Then, he undertook to picture Brigadier Eduardo Gomes and the UDN party as elitists with no concern for the working masses, while seeking to characterize General Dutra as essentially inept. With the two military candidates discredited, Vargas could promote a “tertius” solution (i.e., a third, “national” candidate—namely himself—who could he elected by a constituent assembly or plebiscite), which would settle the country down and save it from a radical break with its past. Vargas went to great lengths to promote his own “popular” image, including some type of deal with the Communist party. Detail regarding the formation of the Social Democratic and Democratic Union parties, as well as the maneuvers of lesser political and military figures in the fluid state of national affairs, is enlightening. The evolution of the “queremista” campaign (the movement calling for the retention of Vargas as head of government) is well covered as is the process whereby Vargas (once removed from office) eventually extended genuine support to Dutra, thereby assuring his election despite the control of government resources hy José Linhares, the pro-UDN head of the Supreme Federal Tribunal (who filled the position of president when Vargas was removed by the military in October of 1945).
Finally, the dust jacket contains the statement, a possible ulterior motive for the preparation of this work, that this book “will have a great impact upon our [i.e., Brazil’s] present political situation because it recalls the action of the Army in redemocratizing Brazil.”
