GOVERNMENT
(With the inauguration of Gen. Arthur da Costa e Silva March 15 as the president of Brazil, Washington appears to hope that a believable "democratic" front has been provided for the brutal military dictatorship which seized power April 1, 1964, with the connivance of the Johnson administration. Gen. Costa e Silva at least seems to have passed the tests of pro-Americanism with flying colors. He was handpicked by the dictator Gen. Humberto Castelo Branco and "elected" last October 4, in violation of the 1946 constitution, as the "authorized" candidate.
(The New York Times even went so far in an editorial hailing the inauguration of Gen. Costa e Silva as to declare that a "new stage in Brazil's revolution [read counterrevolution] begins today..." The Times hoped that the former minister of war will succeed "in winning over the disenchanted," but recognized that popular support "will not come easily." "The economy is still suffering from inflation; land reform remains in the blueprint stage; education and housing have been lagging." (Only 13 percent of the population is in school -- the lowest percentage of any country in South America.
(And what is the feeling among the Brazilian working people about this changing of the guard? The censorship, the repressive atmosphere and the terror make accurate assessment difficult. It is noticeable, nonetheless, that the new regime does not boast about any dancing in the streets over its assumption of office.
{Brazilian socialists see little difference between the two administrations. This view is advanced in the article below, written just before the inauguration. The article is of special interest as an example of the material being circulated in the Brazilian underground. It appeared in the clandestine publication, Politica Oper4ria (Workers Politics), in two installments (February 25 and March 4 issues). The translation from Portuguese is by World Outlook. Subheads appear in the original.]
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I.
We have already pointed out many times that the change in generals changes nothing basic in the functioning of the dictatorship. Today, on the eve of the shift in command by the ruling classes, the composition of the new cabinet and the announcements by the new officials enable us to determine more precisely the tendencies of Castelo's successor.
A Less Competent Lackey
If we were to specify the difference between the two "gorillas" in a nutshell, we would say that both are lackeys of the capitalist monopolies in Brazil, except that Costa e Silva is a less competent lackey -- not that we set any stock in the dubious superiority of one over the other. We refer to the fact that Castelo belongs to the rather homogeneous Escola Superior de Guerra [War College] group, allied with Roberto Campos' Consultec concern, which is inclined to use fire and sword in carrying out the plan to revitalize capitalism in this country. In pursuing this course it has not hesi-~ tated to use brute force and go over the heads of individual representatives of the class it serves.
This element of military Bonapartism will certainly persist under Costa e Silva but it is becoming clear that his team is more heterogeneous and less ambitious. It is composed of military men faithful to the head of the army, who himself recognizes that he owes his presidential title to them, plus a few politicians who can give him a broader cover.
What Is New?
The situation in which Castelo's successor takes office is somewhat different from.that of April 1964. Of course, so far as the ruling classes are concerned, the dictatorship has to its credit its relentless battle against the organizations, demands and demonstrations of the workers. However, its initial impetus has been pretty well spent. The support it enjoyed among the middle classes has evaporated and the enthusiasm of the bourgeoisie itself has waned. Under these circumstances, Costa e Silva is
seeki some sort of "National Union" (of the exploiting classes and their lackeys, of course) like Dutra's "National Union" of 1946.*
Costa e Silva wants to attract and absorb the independent bourgeois forces like those in the "broad front" headed by Lacerda and Jucelino Kubitschek. Also, he is counting on the weakness of the left to enable him to put across some kind of demagogic ma~ neuver. But the time which the PAEG (Government Economic Planning Board] allotted itself to put the economy back in shape has passed and the crisis has not been mitigated in any respect. To the extent that Costa e Silva must face this problem -- and he must face it like any bourgeois regime -- severe limitations are placed on any demagogic maneuvers.
The considerably worn slogan "Get Development Going Again to Fight Inflation," the designation of a representative of the industrialists for the ministry of industry and trade, and a follower of Roberto Campos for the treasury show two things: (1) The new government may be more flexible, less rigid, more opportunistic with regard to credits for the private sector: (2) the antilabor economic policy will remain essentially the same.
The "National Union"
Conscious of the artificiality of the ARENA [National Renovating Alliance, the ruling clique's political "movement", of the government's unpopularity, and of the assaults of the "broad front," Costa e Silva is already attempting to attract various political and class leaders -- industrialists, businessmen and servile trade unionists have already met with the future head of the dictatorship -- and to counteract the effect of so many uniforms in the cabinet.
In the foreign ministry, Magalhdes Pinto is hinting that Juracy's all-out pro- Americanism will be moderated, although the real policy to be followed will remain that of a cunning opportunist and conservative banker. The SNI [National Information Service] promises that it will engage in a dialogue with the people...All this vulgar demagogy is indicative at the same time of the character of the Costa e Silva administration. The reactionary creeds of 1964 have evaporated ingloriously and Castelo's successor can now only wallow in the most abject of policies, with no other program than virulent "anti-Communist" blather.
II.
This past week rumors have been circulating about "continuist"** maneuvers by Castelo Branco. Along with this there has been a big furor over suppressing the national congress of high-school teachers and a UNB (National University of Brazil] seminar, talk of guerrillas in the south, a new list of revocations of political rights, suspense over the internal security law and other government measures. All this took place amidst the projected "reformulations" which the general promises to make and which have created friction between the ministers appointed by Castelo and those named by Costa. In any case, political conditions and the mood of the ruling classes themselves are no longer such as to permit a new continuist coup by Castelo.
A Publicity Move
The backers of the incoming administration anticipate that its first move on assuming power will be an attempt "to get into the good graces of the people." It is said that the government will extend credits in order to eliminate friction between sectors of the bourgeoisie, that it will reform the laws dealing with the minor student organizations, and -- more important -- that it will rescind the payment of income taxes by workers in an attempt to divert their attention from the price of bread and beans, transportation, high rent, unemployment and the shrinking purchasing power of wages. In brief, it seems that the cleaned up dictatorship will resort to demagogy less hesitatingly in order to deceive the workers.
* [Gen. Eurico Gaspar Dutra was elected president of Brazil in 1945, succeeding Getflio Dornelles Vargas. Dutra came to office in the face of a powerful postwar upsurge of the masses. Promising democracy and reform, he balanced between the various class forces, presiding over the transitional phase between the breakup of strong-man Vargas' "New State" and the stabilization of the political scene which came in 1947 with the outlawing of the Communist party and a nationwide "anti-Communist" witch-hunt. -- W.0.]
** C"Continuismo" -- the custom among Latin-American strongmen of stretching their tenure in office through guile or force. -- W.0O.
The Nationalists
The workers have already been hoodwinked enough in the ambiguous name of nationalism. The slogan "Save the Nation" has always meant that the workers should tighten their belts while the sharks put on fat. This was made possible because the leaderships of the workers movement itself preferred to follow the nostrums of the bourgeoisie rather than take a class position.
Now the hard-liners are resorting to "nationalist" rhetoric. The supporters of Costa e Silva claim to be fighting against Roberto Campos and Juracy "selling the country." It will be interesting to see how far this nationalism goes, since they are first and foremost anti-Communists and defenders of capitalism, and since "selling the country" is not the fruit of "lack of patriotism" but a consequence of capitalist development, of the unity of the international bourgeoisie in confronting socialism and preserving their privileges. The defense of the capitalist nation will lead them to continue to serve Yankee policies and to march arm in arm with the magnates of imperialisn.
One of these nationalists has already been designated for the ministry of labor -- the hard-line military figure Jarbas Passarinho. Nothing brings out the real nature of these people quicker than bringing them face to face with the workers.