References to Brazil in the Portuguese Fascist Newspaper Revolução

Abstract

This paper aims to analyze how the political events in Brazil after the 1930 revolution, which brought Vargas to power, were interpreted by the Portuguese fascist newspaper “Revolution”. The rise of Salazar in Portugal and Vargas in Brazil raised expectations around the fascistization of politics in both countries due to the insurgence of extremist right-wing parties and/or political factions in their quests for power. From a distance, the Portuguese National-Syndicalism movement and its periodical, Revolução [Revolution], which had no correspondents in Brazil, sought to understand what was happening and somehow influence the course of events. By analyzing the many references to Brazil over the nearly two years when this Portuguese periodical was published, we are able to perceive the difficulties the Portuguese fascists had in understanding the Brazilian political conjuncture. As their disappointment grew, especially regarding Vargas’ approximation with the liberals, they joined dissident Varguist groups, who likewise had no ties to fascism.