832.00 Revolutions/606: Telegram
The Ambassador in Brazil (Caffery) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:15 p.m.]
126. My telegram No. 108, May 11, 5 p.m. Although for some time after the uprising the Brazilian authorities were very much concerned as to the extent and ramifications of the plot they now feel much easier after having read over papers taken, secured confessions from many implicated, et cetera, all of which point definitely to a plan organized by a group of leaders of the Integralista, Party acting in conjunction with a number of sympathizers in the Navy, allied with various professional agitators, some of whom have taken part in other uprisings in recent years. The whole business centered on the assassination of President Vargas, the leaders believing that in the resultant confusion they would be able to seize power especially because they were convinced that their allies in the Navy would be able to swing the support of the Navy and that the Army would accept a fait accompli and support the new Government.
The failure of the attempt to assassinate President Vargas was due almost wholly to the cowardice and flight of Fournier, who was in command of the group in the garden, and Nascimento, the Captain of the President’s guard, who secretly fled when the Minister of War arrived with a few men and they were told that a brigade of troops was accompanying the Minister (when, as a matter of fact, the troops [Page 418] did not arrive for 2½ hours thereafter). In the meantime, the leaderless group in the garden continued firing but did not have sufficient discipline or courage to assault the Palace, which was being defended by only six men, four loyal members of the guard and two secret police who slept in the Palace. Nobody has satisfactorily explained why it took the troops 3 hours to arrive at the Palace. My own belief is that the explanation privately given by the Chief of Police is the correct one: the authorities were afraid to order out the troops as they did not know on which side they stood; when it seemed clear that the Army was not joining the insurrection, they ordered them out. As is apparent, there was a great deal of muddling on both sides.
Although arrests of the Integralistas are still going on all over the country, there has not been any disorder outside of Rio de Janeiro.
Aranha confessed to me that the Government has been in a very troubled, nervous state, but says that they all feel that they now have the situation well in hand and they do not look for any further explosion at this time or for some time to come.