more liberty-loving by temperament or more noble-minded,
or whether it was the warm personal reeling they had always
had for Prestes, the aviaturs enthusiastically answered. the
call which was echoing from all sides. Not being able to get
their planes out, they destroyed more than eighty of them.
A bloody fray ensued, in which Captain Barata took a pro-
minent part, while among those slain on the government
side was Lieutenant Braganca.
PERSONAGES OF THE REVOLUTION
The outstanding figure in all Brazil is, it would seem,
Luis Carlos Prestes, the man of mystery, who is the source
of so much dread and uneasiness to Dr. Vargas's government.
He has always been a meteoric character for the Brazilians,
meteoric and mystery-shrouded, a famous northern crusader
for freedom. He is the long-hoped-for, the Knight of Good
Hope, as he is known, who with the aid of the uprising
Brazilian masses is to bring a liberation at last from the
imperialist yoke.
Another leader of great influence is Lieutenant Silo
Meirelles, who has been a revolutionist since 1922. He was
in prison for many years. He is an intellectual, a writer and
a brilliant journalist. Noted for his courage and big-heart-
edness, he is greatly beloved of the Brazilian populace, which
sees in him one of its most fervent defenders. For a long
time he was in exile in Uruguay. He is the leader of the
Pernambuco revolutionists, that being his native state. He
has taken upon himself the legal responsibility for the move-
ment there.
The brave Captain Barata is yet another. A revolutionist
since 1930, he was staff officer and right-hand-man to juarez
Tavora, most of whose victories in the north were owing to
him. In 1932, he was connected with the Constitutionalist
uprising and was exiled to Europe. He is at the same time
a good writer and journalist.
An official gazette affords the names of some of the per-
sons who, as the government puts it, were arrested for being
implicated in the "communist plot" and for "taking orders
from Moscow":
Gilberto Freire, former secretary of state of Pernambuco
and a professor in the University of Rio de janeiro, one of
Brazil's most famous writers; Dr. Daniel Rabelo, head of
the medical school of Bello Horizonte; Vicente Garcia, head
of the Central Railroad of Brazil; Dr. Pedro da Cunha,
Socialist Party leader; Professor Hermes Lima; Rodolfo
Carvalho, editor of
0 Radical;
Anisio Amaral, head of the
Workers Book Union; judge Baixa Verde; Anisio Teixeira,
superintendent of public instruction in Rio de janeiro; Dr.
Dionelio N achado, noted physician of Rio Grande do Sui;
etc.
The names, as will be seen, are distinguished ones, rep-
resenting important positions, and this will give an idea of
the extent to which the movement had spread through all
classesof the population, among those supposed to be involved
being state employes, university professors, intellectuals,
workers, soldiers, students, etc., etc. The truth is, the best
minds of Brazil were back of the League for National Free-
dom.
The reaction on the part of the anti-popular, imperialistic
government of Dr. Getulio Vargas ha, been far-reaching and
8
is at present being felt in all quarters. More than five thous-
and persons have been thrown into noisome jail cells; the
prisons are packed to overflowing. Not only public function-
aries and intellectuals, but even ladies from the upper strata
of Rio society have been herded into the prison-pens of
Brazil's dictator, the man whom the people loathe.
INTERVIEW WITH AN EXILE
By way of lending confirmation to these notes I have
interviewed a political exile from Brazil who p~t in at
Buenos Aires aboard a boat.
"Were you in Brazil at the outbreak of the revolution?"
"Yes, I was in Rio de janeiro on November 23rd. The
first news, or rather, the only news the public received was
~h~t which came from official sources, for the government
IS In control of communications. But of course, something
had leaked through before the censorship was clamped down."
"Well, what did the official reports say?"
. "According to the information we got, it was a mutiny
In the battalions stationed at Natal and Recife; some of the
soldiers had joined with communist workers of Natal, and
many persons had been killed and there had been much dis-
order. It seemed that, at Natal, they had organized a com-
munist government, a 'soviet', and that this was part of a
widespread plot to massacre all the public authorities the
.
.
~n~sts, etc. From the beginning, the official, fascist press
inSisted that the 'plot' had been nipped in the bud, the revolt
put down and that the majority of the local authorities were
with the government."
"What was the truth of the matter?"
"From such news as managed to get by the censor, we
were aware that the uprising had been brought on by the
growing discontent among the masses, by the measures of
repression which the fascist governor, Fernandez, in com-
pany with a handful of Integralists in Rio Grande do Norte
had taken, and by the destitution which prevailed amon~
the state employes. The people wanted Cascardo for gover-
nor-Herculino Cascardo, ex-comptroller and present head
of the League for National Freedom. In the course of his
previous administration, Cascardo had adopted certain mea-
sures of a collectivist nature which had made a good im-
pression and had won for him a personal following. As more
and more were cast into prison, the strike against the Great
Western and other companies spread and became an insur-
rection; and the troops which were sent to put down the
-rebellion went over to the people's side. There was, to tell
the truth, no rioting, no rebellion, but soldiers and the people
were on the best possible terms.-In addition to these factors
there was the indignation provoked by the dissolution of th;
League and the governmental support that was given to
'Integralism' ."
"And what happened in Rio?"
"In Rio, too, there was great indignation, and this was
felt in the barracks; for Prestes is very popular in military
circles. On the walls of the barracks, you could see inscrip-
tions: 'Prestes is our general.' This alone should give you
an idea of how serious the situation was. The other circum-
stances were as you have set them forth in your article."
Translated from the Spanish by Samuel Putnam
FEBRUARY,
1936
