Democracy Mocked

"The electoral college is a farce," declared Brazilian Presidential Candidate Ulysses Guimar`aes. So, too, he might have added, was the whole presidential campaign. Guimar`aes and his opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement Party never had a chance against the country's ruling military dictatorship and its candidate, General Ernesto Geisel. Though the generals tried to give the election the trappings of democracy, they had no intention of losing. Portly, white-haired Geisel was hand-picked last summer by Outgoing President General Emilio Medici.

Geisel's "victory" was assured when the generals ruled that the President would be chosen by the electoral college, which is controlled by the National Renewal Alliance, the government party. The government offered to pay $1,600 to each elector who showed up to vote; as a result, there were few empty seats in the Chamber of Deputies in Brasilia on election day last week. Geisel picked up 400 of 497 votes. So predictable was his election that he did not even bother attending the voting session.

Exact Image. The campaign itself was not exactly a textbook example of democracy in action. While Geisel had a government plane and the government-controlled press at his disposal, Guimar`aes was not even given radio or TV time. In the city of Campo Grande, the government-owned electric company cut off the power just when a meeting of Guimar`aes' supporters was about to begin. In Niteroi, a city near Rio de Janeiro, perplexed bystanders watched a small band of demonstrators parade through the streets carrying placards calling for an end to censorship and a return to democracy. The marchers were later told that no further demonstrations would be permitted.

Though his cause was hopeless, Guimar`aes thought the effort was worthwhile. The campaign gave him the opportunity to raise issues in public that would normally not be covered in the heavily censored press. Guimar`aes spoke out against "arbitrary arrests and persecution, torture and violence." He called for an end to press censorship and lambasted the junta's refusal to allow Brazilians a direct voice in electing the President, observing that "people who are capable of working and paying taxes are also capable of voting." Surprisingly, the charges were printed in local newspapers.

Geisel, 65, is Brazil's first Protestant President, but otherwise is an exact image of his military predecessors. That means a strict adherence to the junta's drive to make Brazil "the Japan of South America," a drive that last year resulted in an economic growth rate of 11.4%, one of the highest in the world. Brazilians are happy with the relative prosperity the military dictatorship has brought. Geisel has also indicated that he will take a hard line on civil liberties, which have been suspended since 1964, when the generals overthrew leftist President Joao Goulart, Brazil's last freely elected head of state. In a speech delivered shortly after his election, Geisel warned that during his five-year term "any subversive tendencies or acts of corruption" would be crushed. For Brazilians who have lived with rumors of summary arrests, torture and execution, his meaning was perfectly clear.

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