Evening star., 1937-11-14
BY WILLIAM z. SHEA.

BY WILLIAM z. SHEA.
A BOUT twelve million of Brazil's
~ population Of 10000, 900 are of
~ Italian birth or patronage.
4 a About half a million are Of
German blood, and about the same are
Japanese. Altogether. these groups,
which are bound by racial ties to the
worlds three great Fascist countries,
constitute large segment of Brazil's
population.
1t has been asserted, and it is prob
ably true. that the existence of this
population bloc deriving from Fascist
countries had a causative relation to
the sensational political upheaval of
last week, when President Getulio VAR
gas disbanded the Federal Congress,
the state assemblies. and the municipal
councils. and proclaimed Brazil a cor
porative" state; in effect, "totalita-
rian" state modelled on the present gov
ernment Of Germany and Italy.
Unquestionably the population fac
tor was important-for years the Ger
mans in Brazil have maintained an
aggressive Nazi organization, with all
the trimmings OF swastikas, uniforms.
and Hell Hitfers!" But there were
other much more important causes for
this sudden conversion of one of Amer
ica's most democratic and liberal ma
tions into a Fascist dictatorship. First
among them Is an evolution that has
been going on in the political think
ing OF the people in practically all
Latin American countries. Though
this change is of recent origin it has
already spread widely and penetrated
deeply. That it has potentialities for
effecting. at no very distant time,
grave alterations in the international
life Of the nations of America needs
but to be stated; it is proved by what
has already happened in Brazil
Dictators Invariably Fascist.
Traditionally. distatorships in Latin
America have been almost invariably
Fascist in character. not Communist.
In addition to Vargas, who is the
avowed Der Fuehrer" of Brazil. it is
an historical fact that in their methods
and their policies Leguia of Peru.
Machado Of Cuba. Porfirio Diaz of
Mexico. Trujillo of Santo Domingo,
Gomez of Venezuela. are closer akin
to Hitler and Mussolini than to Stain
and Lenin.
Most of the dictators mentioned.
with the exception of Trujillo. prob
ably would not have known what you
meant If you had called them Fascists.
The term was given currently by Mus
sollnl at the time he and his black
shirts marched on Rome in the early
twenties. but IN Latin America a dec
ade was to pass before the word was
noticed by anyone but the diplomats
and the intelligensia. AS applied to
Latin American dictators, the word is
quite new, and it has been only within
the past couple of years that it has
been SO used by the general public in
the republics of the South. It's gen.
eral adoption has been due to two main
causes. One was the belated discov-
cry made by journalists and politicians
that the supposed new systems of gov
eminent and society established in
Italy in 1928 and Germany in 1883
Fascism and Nazism-are, in all assem-
tial respects, identical with the per-
sonal rule" governments that have
been familiar in Latin America for a
century. The final result Gin both the
Fascist and the personal rule sys-
tems') says one Latin American poli.
tical writer. "is coming to be very SIM
liar, if not identical"
War in Spain Closely Followed. =
The other cause for the widespread
adoption of the word in Latin Amer
lea is the war in Spain (in which
naturally all the former colonies of
Spain are intensely interested). and
the way the newspapers of Latin Amer
lea report that war. The newspapers
DO not speak of the Loyalists under
Gen. Miaja as the government
forces, nor those under Gen. Franco as
"revolutionists," but of the former
as Communists and the latter as Fasc-
ISIS. Readers Of the newspapers. COM
ing across these terms every day and
recognizing in the conflict between po-
lltical ideas in the mother country
similarity to social and political d.
visions at home, find it easy to take
over for home use the labels which
the press puts on the two parties to
the conflict in Spain. Prevailingly, the
newspapers espouse the Fascist side in
the Spanish struggle. They minimize
or fail to report victories by the Com
munists" and picture the "Fascists" as
paragons Of nobility and courage.
1t would be difficult to cite a parallel
instance Of the power of word to in
f1uence the destiny of millions. as is
happening now as result of the abb
sorption into Latin American political
terminology Of the word Fascism.
Formerly. the Machados and the Juan
Vicente Gomezes. though sycophants
were not lacking to praise them, were
execrated beings, universally looked
upon as ruthless opportunists, more in
terested in welding great power and
in enriching themselves than in serv-
ing their countries. I'm some cases
that view was unjust)
Now, since the twinship between