Economic and Political Aspects of Development in Brazil—and U.S. Aid

Abstract

To say that the Brazilian scene has been volatile—politically and economically—during the past ten years is to risk an understatement. A mere listing of the presidents of Brazil during this limited period illustrates the point. It begins with the enormously popular— then and now—Juscelino Kubitschek, who represented the industrialization of Brazil and the move away from the coast with the decision to create a new capital in Brasilia. Then, the overwhelming electoral victory of Jânio Quadros—the enigma of Brazilian politics who had been such a successful Mayor and Governor of São Paulo only to resign the presidency after six months for reasons that still remain unclear today. Next came the then Vice President João Goulart, who was visiting Red China when he heard he was to become President. Although his powers were curtailed before he was allowed to take office, he served long enough to create an impression of corruption and leftward drift and the reality of almost runaway inflation—factors which led to the revolution of March, 1964, and the administration of Marshal Castello Branco.