Evening star., 1949-05-15


the most friendly of them, tina
we have become so preoccupie,
with the problems of Europe
Asia and elsewhere that we hav,
forgotten the most important o
our Southern neighbors. "a
least" says a prominent Brazilian
diplomat, "the North American
public has grown indifferent or
the subject of hemisphere rela.
tions."
Strategic Role
The Brazilian chief executive.
Iarrival in Washington on the heels
Of the lifting of the Berlin block.
ade and on the eve of the fatefu
meeting of the four power for.
eign ministers is again significant
1t serves to remind us that, al
another critical moment in oul
International relations. Gen. Dutra
himself played a strategic role ir
our destiny. AS his country's Min
lister Of War he was major in.
huence in effecting arrangements
by which the governments of the
two countries co-operated in the
establishment of a chain of air.
fields and other military installa-
tions on Brazilian soil in time tc
withstand the Axis onslaught il,
1941.
The Brazilian nation and people
paid dearly for their wartime CO.
operation and solidarity with this
country. Nazi submarines sank
practically the entire Brazilian
merchant marine. Even tiny sail
boats and sloops, plying up and
down the long Brazilian coast
line. taking food supplies from
one community to another. were
blasted. and at times hundreds
Of thousands of people in Recife
Rio and other Brazilian cities
went hungry for days at a time
AS the head of the Brazilian
Army the future President of the
southern republic remained calm
and determined and kept his mil
itary forces on the alert at all
the strategic points from the
mouth of the Amazon to the bor-
der of Uruguay. Meantime. he
was organizing and training an
expeditionary force, flyers as well
as ground troops, that finally
served with other Allied armies
in Italy.
The Brazilian Presidents trip
is hailed by many as the first
visit to the United States of a
Brazilian chief of state while in
Office. This is literally true: how
ever. he is but another in the
long list of distinguished per-
sonalities who have travelled from
one of the countries to the other
in the past three-quarters of a
century. In fact, Gen. Dutra him
self was here in 1943, in the
darkest hours of the war. and
travelled from coast to coast.
Emperor Game Here
Two Presidents-elect Of Brazil
have been guests of cur Govern
ment in the past, President Epi-
tacio Pesoa, in June. 1919, before
he took up the duties of his Of
flee, and Julio PreStes, who was
prevented from assuming the
presidency in 1890. when Dicta-
tor Getulio Vargas overthrew the
Rio government and began his
15-year rule. President Hoover
included Brazil in his travels tc
South America, prior to his in
auguration in 1929. Theodore
Roosevelt spent months in lead
ing an expedition through the
Amazon regions after the end oi
his last term In the White House
President Franklin Roosevelt
paid a state visit to Rio in 1886
and in July of l947 President Tru-
man received the most brilliant
and enthusiastic welcome of any
notable who has visited Rio ir
recent times. A million people
lined the streets of the Brazilian
capital to shout their welcome
when he arrived.
But the Dutra travels In thil
country cannot measure up to the
strenuous itinerary Of Brazil.
great Emperor Dom Pedro II. whs
came here in 1876. The Brazilian