O second government of Getúlio Vargas it extended from 1951 to 1954, the year of his death. It was characterized by an economic policy that prioritized national developmentalism. This was the reason that caused a major political crisis in his government – in addition to the population's dissatisfaction with the increase in the cost of living. The end of the second government came tragically, with the president's suicide on August 24, 1954.
1950 presidential election
After being deposed as president in 1945, Getúlio Vargas supported the candidacy of EuricogasparDutra from November 1945 and, shortly thereafter (December 1946), he broke support from Dutra and left for political articulation as part of the plans for his return to the position of president of the Brazil.
From there, Vargas sewed up his political base, guaranteeing the support of Ademar de Barros, an important politician from São Paulo who had a great capacity to obtain the popular vote. Ademar de Barros was the leader of the Progressive Social Party (PSP). As part of this alliance, Vargas launched Café Filho, affiliated with the PSP, as vice president. Vargas also allied with UDN politicians and tried to win support from the PSD.
In his speech, Getúlio Vargas maintained his position as a defender of workers' rights and stated that it would also prioritize the country's development and the promotion of the population's well-being, fighting, mainly, the inflation. Regarding Vargas' candidacy for the 1950 election, historians Lilia Schwarcz and Heloisa Starling state that:
[…] his candidacy did not present itself as identified with a single party, but as a supra-party formula that combined new and old regional political leaderships, and mixed entrepreneurs interested in the benefits of industrialization with the electoral strength of workers, workers and the lower middle class sectors, expanding in the large City|1|.
Getúlio Vargas' opponents in the 1950 election were, by the PSD, christianAxe, and, by UDN, the BrigadierEdwardGomes. However, both candidacies were not strong enough to defeat Getúlio Vargas. In the case of Cristiano Machado, this happened because his own party abandoned his candidacy and gave strong support to Vargas' candidacy.
Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, who was already significantly weakened by the defeat in the 1945 election, made a mistake during his speech. In June 1950, he stated that he was in favor of abolishing the minimum wage law – which, of course, was seen as absurd among the working classes.
The final result of the 1950 election determined the Getúlio Vargas victory with 48.7% of the votes, totaling almost 4 million votes against 29.7% by Eduardo Gomes and 21.5% by Cristiano Machado. The candidacy and victory of Getúlio Vargas infuriated the UDN, the notorious conservative and anti-Getulist party of the time. The posture of the UDN in the following years can be understood from the speech of one of its greatest representatives, journalist Carlos Lacerda:
“Mr. Getúlio Vargas, senator, should not be a presidential candidate. Candidate, must not be elected. Elected, must not take office. Inaugurated, we must resort to the revolution to prevent him from governing"|2|.
Here began the years of strong political crisis that characterized the second government of Getúlio Vargas.
Second Vargas government
A strong debate about the development of Brazil divided the country throughout the 1950s between those who defended a posture that prioritized the country's development based on companies and national capital and with major State intervention in the economy (national-developmentalism) and those who defended the prioritization of foreign capital and companies with a predominance of free Marketplace.
In the case of Getúlio Vargas, since his electoral campaign, his speech advocated greater prioritization of the option nationalist of developmentalism. This posture of Vargas was reflected in two important areas of the Brazilian economy: the exploitation of the Petroleum and the production of energyelectric.
In the case of oil, during the second Vargas government the Oil Campaign, in which it was defended that the exploration of Brazilian oil should be carried out by national companies. This campaign was joined by different groups in Brazilian society under the motto “oil is ours”. This campaign resulted in the creation of Petrobras in 1953, which became the holder of the oil exploration monopoly in Brazil as of 1954.
In the case of electricity, the Vargas government's project to create a state-owned company was not as successful, and the creation of Eletrobras only took place in 1962. Both projects for the creation of state-owned companies deeply displeased the UDN, an ardent advocate that the Brazil's economic and industrial development should take place from foreign capital and without interference of State.
This political-economic project of Vargas, therefore, came into conflict with the interest of internal groups that were aligned with international capital, such as Standard Oil, Light and Power Co. and American & Foreign Power Co. In addition, there were many powerful economic groups in Brazil that did not welcome the interventionist posture of the State in matters of economy.
The UDN, throughout the second Vargas government, remained active in opposing the Vargas government's proposals. His performance gained repercussion as the population became more dissatisfied with the increase in the cost of living. Popular dissatisfaction was reinforced especially after 1953, when popular demonstrations of great repercussion took place.
First, the March of Empty Pans, when about 60 thousand people demonstrated in the city of São Paulo. A short time later, there was the 300 thousand strike, when five unions called for a strike that paralyzed workers in São Paulo for nearly a month. The mobilization of workers caught the attention of the government, which, in response, named João Goulart for the post of Minister of Labour.
The appointment of Jango, as João Goulart was known, was strategic, as he had a good relationship with workers and union leaders. Jango's role in the Ministry of Labor soon calmed the mood of the labor movements, however, on the other hand, it stirred up that of Vargas' opponents.
Jango's appointment led the udenista opposition to accuse the Getúlio Vargas government of wanting to establish a “Republic unionist” in Brazil (a kind of workers' dictatorship), since João Goulart was seen by conservatives as a communist. The opposition's denunciation, of course, was false, as there was no shadow of it in the Vargas government.
João Goulart's stay at the Ministry of Labor was short – eight months. In addition to controlling the workers' tempers, Jango proposed something that was controversial at the time: 100% increase in the minimum wage of workers. Jango's proposal was a way to compensate for the wear and tear on the worker's income caused by inflation.
The proposal to raise the minimum wage by 100% angered different groups in Brazil, such as representatives of economic elites, members of the UDN, and the Brazilian army. The army's dissatisfaction with the measure was such that 82 colonels and lieutenant colonels published the “Colonels' Manifesto” in February 1954, weaving harsh criticisms of the government and the wage increase measure.
The colonels' posture is seen by historians as a demonstration of the corporation's clear insubordination, which already showed a tendency to coup. It is important to remember that many of the colonels involved in the 1954 manifesto were involved in the coup that started the civil-military dictatorship in 1964.
As a way to get around the situation, Getúlio Vargas took measures to please the different sides: to calm the opposition, he dismissed Jango; to calm the population, he ratified the wage increase; to keep the army under control, he replaced the post of Minister of Labor by appointing Zenobio da Costa.
End of Vargas government
Despite the strong political crisis, the opposition was not strong enough to overthrow Vargas. Carloslacerda he used his newspaper (Tribuna da Imprensa) to denounce the government's acts of corruption on a daily basis, whether the accusations were true or not. An impeachment attempt was carried out and failed.
Vargas was cornered, but he held himself somehow. However, August 5, 1954 brought the element the opposition needed: the Tonelero Street attack. On that day, an act was carried out against the life of Carlos Lacerda, Vargas' biggest opponent. Lacerda survived, however, his bodyguard, Air Force Major Rubens Vaz, died.
The death of the Air Force major infuriated the Brazilian armed forces, which ran over the process of Justice and the Constitution and opened an inquiry of their own to investigate the death of Rubens Empty Carlos Lacerda joined the chorus, accusing Vargas as the mastermind of the crime. The investigations carried out reached the name of the perpetrator of the crime: GregoryFortune, head of security at the presidential palace.
From then on, new investigations were carried out and discovered acts of corruption committed by members of the government. Despite this, the investigations were never able to directly incriminate the president. In any case, the army issued an ultimatum and began demanding the president's resignation. Vargas, politically isolated, chose to commit an extreme act: on the morning of August 24, 1954, he shot himself in the chest.
He left a letter of will accusing his opponents and posing as the nation's martyr. THE popular commotion was immediate, and reports say that people took to the streets to mourn Vargas' death. Dissatisfied, the population started to attack the opponents of Vargas, newspapers, UDN headquarters etc. Carlos Lacerda had to flee the country in a hurry. The presidential succession was carried out by the deputy, Café Filho, and the UDN was weakened.
|1| SCHWARCZ, Lilia Moritz and STARLING, Heloisa Murgel. Brazil: a biography. São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2015, p. 400-401.
|2| Idem, p. 401.
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