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A Legacy of Inequality 23

itary. Its presidential candidate, Getúlio Vargas—whose elec- tion was stolen through fraud—was able to assume office thanks to a popular uprising. Vargas went on to dominate Brazilian politics for the next 24 years. He succeeded in modernizing the country both politically and economically. Vargas’s second presidential term was cut short by his suicide in 1954. Vargas’s successor and protegé, Juscelino Kubitschek, attempted to close the economic and social gaps between Brazil’s rich and poor through fabulously expensive social programs. He built Brasília, the new capital, which was sup- posed to bring development to the vast interior of Brazil.

Getúlio Vargas

But by the early 1960s, inflation —a continuing rise in prices—battered the economy and further eroded the standard of living of the nation’s poor. For a time, it was feared that Brazil would turn to communism, inspired by Fidel Castro’s victory in Cuba. That didn’t happen, but in 1964 Brazil’s fragile democracy was squashed by a military coup. The military would rule Brazil for the next two decades. During that time, Brazil’s economy improved dramatically. By the late 1960s the country was enjoying double-digit economic growth annually. Soon Brazil had become one of the economic powerhouses of the Western Hemisphere, helped by loans and investment from abroad. In 1985 the military handed power back to a civilian government, and Brazilians elected their president by popular vote for the first time in more than 20 years. Despite Brazil’s remarkable success story, serious problems loomed. In the