South America saw a wave of populist leaders that defied the conservative establishment.
5. Lazaro Cardenas
Born
in 1895 with Indian blood in Michoacan and with little education, Cardenas rose
in the military ranks during the Mexican Revolution and found an ally in form
of President Plutarco Calles (r. 1924 – 1928). He served as governor and
briefly as cabinet member before becoming the presidential candidate of the
ruling National Revolutionary Party in 1933 with the support of President
Calles.
He
campaigned vigorously despite his sure win travelling across the country to
meet locals and to listen to their problems. He promised to fulfill the
promises of social, land, and economic reforms of the Mexican Revolution which
became sluggish after Calles and his allies became rich and the implementation
of the reforms became less important.
When
Cardenas became President in 1934, he build up his political support then turned
against the old guard Calles. He gave out lands to the peasantry, becoming the
President with the largest land to give, improved labor conditions, and
organized workers and peasants into to confederations. Feeling his political
base secured, he forced Calles to exile. He reorganized the National
Revolutionary Party to the Partido de la Revolution Mexicana (PRM) with more
cohesion and better representation from the workers, laborers, “popular” and
the military than its predecessor.
He
then nationalized the railroads before nationalizing the highly strategic and
profitable oil industry, establishing the Petroleos Mexicanos and hailed as the
declaration of economic independence of the country. In 1940, he stepped down
as President, but remained and influential political figure in the country up
until his death in 1970.
4. Getulio Vargas
Dubbed
as Father of the Poor, Getulio Vargas served as Brazil’s President from 1930 to
1945, and also in 1951 to 1954. Son of a local politician and a lawyer by
profession, Vargas worked as representative for the state of Rio Grande do Sul
before becoming its governor in 1928. In 1930, he ran as a candidate for
President but the ruling class of coffee planters who dominated the electorate
for decades rigged the election to their favor, thus Vargas lose the bid.
 |
| Getulio Vargas (Middle) during the 1930 Revolution |
His
defeat made him the rallying point for a revolution that swept him to power
with the support of the urban middle class a clique of reformist military
officers called Tenetes. He then curbed the power of the coffee planters,
expanded universal suffrage, and created a strong central government. Vargas,
however, showed authoritarian tendencies when he launched a coup in 1938 to
extend his term. In the same year, he launched the Estado Novo or New State
where the power of the President significantly expanded. He launched a
crackdown against the right as he did once against the left in 1935. He also extended government control over
trade unions, but he enacted social security reforms, agricultural
diversification, and also industrialization through a strategy of import
substitution, establishing steel plants and providing cheap loans and tariff protections
to industries.
 |
| Propaganda of the Estado Novo |
During
World War II, he steered Brazil to the side of the allies which greatly
increase the country’s export of raw material. But the end of the war spelled
the end of Vargas’ first term. Military officers launched a coup that forced
Vargas to resign after the president maneuvered to further his term.
Not
completely cast aside, Vargas plotted his comeback and he did successfully
became the President of Brazil once more in 1951. This time, however, he lacked
the strong powers he once had in the 1930’s and had to abide to a constitution
with check and balances. This made him impotent to enact reforms with strong
political will to combat the rising inflation and growing budget deficits.
Thus, his second term became mired with criticism of weakness. Nevertheless,
his second term saw the establishment of a national petroleum company –
Petrobras.
In
1954, he once again attempted to extend his presidential term, but the military
stopped him and send him an ultimatum: take a leave of absence or be deposed.
Vargas took a third option. Old and depressed he committed suicide on August
25, 1954 making his final words read, “I am leaving life to enter history.”
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