Latin American Dictators

I wrote: "Forgotten by the world, General Marcos Perez Jimenez died, aged 87. Born in Tachira like other Venezuelan dictators, he was president of Venezuela from 1952 to 1958. It was a period when dictators were becoming common in Latin America: Argentina (Peron), Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay and Chile". I thought I had phrased this historical summarily carefully, but Professors Aldo da Rosa and Roderick Barman protested. Also da Rosa wrote: "I would like to learn who the dictators of Brazil were in the 1952 to 1958 period. As I remember, Getulio Vargas was legally and democratically elected president and served from 1951 to 1954 (when he committed suicide, and was replaced by his VP). Jucelino Kubitscheck was elected and served from 1956 to 1961 to be followed by Janio Quadros also elected". This might lead the reader to think that Brazil was free from dictatorships, but this was not the case. Vargas originally came to power in 1930 thanks to a coup. He was elected President by congress in 1934. He was deposed by the armed forces in 1945. Then came the period mentioned by Aldo. In 1964 the armed forces deposed President Goulart. There was a military republic until 1985. In other words, the army has long been in and out of power. Although Brazil is proud of its "white revolutions", the uninformed should not get the impression that Brazil has been free from military dictatorships. In fact, my wife and I stayed in the Ouro Preto residence where the 1964 coup was hatched.

Roderick Barman strikes the same note as Aldo: "Yes, there were a great many dictators in Latin America during the 1950s (too many) but Brazil was not a country that was plagued by them. Getulio Vargas, the former dictator, was elected president as was JK in 1956, the intervening period was filled with military interventions, but Brazil was spared a military dictator". Roderick, a well-known Brazilianist, is a professor at the University of British Columbia, where I taught French over half a century ago. Not even the Spanish language was taught there then. The president went down on his knees and begged me to stay. I told him it was Allah's wish that I come to Stanford to get into the Latin American field. The president realized that nothing could prevail over Allah's will. The university did penance by introducing Spanish and Latin American history. Allah be praised.

Ronald Hilton - 10/10/01