Chaos Compounded

Of all the nations of Latin America, Brazil seems to have the greatest tolerance for chaos. Yet such was the anger and confusion last week that Brazilians on every side despaired for their country. Having just demanded emergency dictatorial powers from Congress as the only hope of preventing civil war "at any moment," President Joao Goulart was forced to withdraw the demand in the face of opposition by Congress, labor unions, state governors, and general public opinion. Goulart said the withdrawal was made possible "by new circumstances." But the only new circumstance was an abortive plot by the President's cronies to kidnap his severest critic, Carlos Lacerda, governor of Guanabara state, which includes Rio.

Caught in a Jam. At 3 a.m. the morning that Goulart was to present his request for a state of siege to Congress, a Goulart friend, Brigadier General Alfredo Pinheiro, accompanied by Lieut. Colonel Abelardo Mafra, appeared at the Vila Militar base in suburban Rio.

They hauled the commander of an artillery group out of bed, told him to gather a score of trustworthy men and arrest Lacerda at 6:15 a.m. as he began an official visit to a state hospital near Rio. If Lacerda resisted, shoot to kill--without fear of consequences. If taken alive, Lacerda supposedly was to be bundled aboard a plane at Rio's International Galeao Airport and flown to a secret destination. The artillery officer refused, saying that he needed a written order from his commander. Pinheiro and Mafra next went to the commander of a paratroop regiment, then to a commander of an engineer company, who finally consented.

At 6:30 a.m., Mafra and 20 engineers roared out of the base in two troop trucks. To avoid downtown traffic, Mafra guided his tiny convoy through the coastal hills, only to run into a traffic jam caused by an accident. By the time they finally reached the hospital, it was 8 a.m. Lacerda had just left--after his secret service got a last-minute tip that troops were on the way.

Quite an Exercise. Both Pinheiro and Mafra admitted that the expedition took place. But they insisted that no actual kidnaping was intended. It was merely "an exercise," said Pinheiro lamely, to test the loyalty of officers to the constitution; Goulart personally had nothing to do with it. Lacerda's enraged U.D.N. Party demanded a full-scale congressional investigation, but that only led to more angry words and still greater confusion. From the War Ministry came rumblings that it was a matter for the military, not Congress, to investigate. And the military privately threatened to hang out some more dirty laundry for everyone to see. If the U.D.N. did not call off its probe, the army was ready to publicize the details of a massive plot against the government organized by a close Lacerda aide and U.D.N. higher-up. Over the past few months, army intelligence claims that it has uncovered several caches of arms, and they were reportedly traced to Lacerda's men.

By week's end, the battle lines grew steadily tighter, and Brazil was rapidly running out of peaceful solutions. A tired-eyed Goulart, weary from worry and no sleep, was maneuvering feverishly and unpredictably--not at all like the old pro of a few months ago. Throughout the country there was an air of desperation. History, as one Brazilian newspaper said, was being written by the minute.

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