Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1948-01-11

Never once has he faltered in hi
fight for communism. His enemie.
as well as his friends know that hi
Is sincere. The government knows
1t, too, and is ready.
Cries Of traitor" were hurled al
Prestes in the Senate last year aftel
he declared in a public speech thai
If Brazil were drawn into wal
against Russia such war would b<
for imperialism" and I'VE Commu.
nists would fight to transform the
fnperialist war into war Of ma.
tional liberation"
AS Senator (from Rio de Janeiro)
Prestes has complete freedom Of
movement and immunity from ar
rest. Now, however, he will be
q suspect citizen under police
surveillance. He claims that the
dictatorship Of President Dutra is
Communists for "Tru-
man. Marshall imperialism"
A Brilliant Scholar
A native of the "gaucho" state of
Rio Grande Do Sui, the same state
that produced ex-President Getulio
Vargas and Oswaldo Aranha, presi-
dent Of the United Nations General
Assembly, Prestes was born Janu-
airy 3, 1898, son of an army officer.
He lost his father at an early age
and his mother took in sewing to
send him to school. He made q
brilliant record and his scholastic
rank is reputed to be the highest
ever made in the national military
academy, the West Point Of Brazil.
With other young officers. Prestes
participated in the frequent revolts
of the 1905. The conservative gov
ernments OF that time displeased
the impatient youths. Revolutions
were crushed in 1922 and 1924, but
many who survived the latter Or
ganized q wandering band under
Prestes, already q leader, and be-
gan an epic march through the
jungles and backlands Of Brazil.
At 26, Prestes, who had been a
captain Of engineers, assumed the
rank Of general. He directed his
army, living of the land
for almost three years, but he and
his band eventually were forced into
exile In Bolivia, Uruguay and Ar
gentina.
In Russia Two Years
About this time Prestes was con-
verified to communism. He declined
to participate in the Vargas revolu-
ton of 1880 although he claimed
Vargas sent him money and asked
his help.
Prestes went to Moscow instead
and was In Russia from 1881 to 1893
On the way back to Brazil, Prestes
joined Communists in France, where
he married Olga Benario, a German
Communist.
Disgusting themselves as a Portu-
guese laborer and wife, they landed
In Brazil, where Prestes organized
the November revolution of 1886
which broke out In Recife, Natal
and Rio de Janeiro. Communists
held Natal briefly until army troops
The outbreak was abortive, due in
part to overconfidence Of the Com
in Brazil's northeast. Many
Communists were discovered in the
army and even the Mayor Of Rio de
Janeiro was apprehended.
Prestes was sentenced to 10 years
n prison. His wife. an expectant
mother. was deported to Germany.
She died in a German concentration
camp after a daughter, Leocadia
prestes, was born. The child now
lives here.
Released During War
In 1910, a 3o-year term was added
20 his sentence on a police charge
hat he had ordered the killing Of a
girl party member for revealing Sc
,rets. Communist activity was out
awed by the Vargas constitution of
1897, and the movement went I'M
foreground.
Following Brazil's participation in
The war against the Axis, Vargas
granted amnesty to all political
prisoners. Still blinking in the day.
light OF freedom, Prestes imme-
diately addressed mass meetings
hat overlooked football stadiums.
He organized a militant party
with a membership Of more than
lSo, 900 and presented a social pro-
gram that, set against the infla-
lion and poverty OF this country,
brought out nearly 100000 votes
when his party legally entered
elections.
Prestes went to the Senate and
l6 other Communists went to the
Chamber OF Deputies. Two Of the
after were elected under another
party due to political alliance that
also elected the governor Of Sac
Paulo State who later, however, dis
,wned Communist support. g
Eighteen of Rio de Janeiro's so
aldermen are Communists. They
and some. 80 legislators In the va
.ious states and numerous municipal
officials throughout the nation are
expected to be ousted under the
;ame law that will unseat Prestes.
The Communist Party now is L.
egal and all Communist activity Is
The next move, the
government believes, is UP to Prestes.
distributed b. tie Associated Prsss1