Brazil: Seeds of Injustice?

The tired, drawn figure rose wearily in his seat in Brazil's Senate chamber and switched on a microphone. Gone was the familiar exuberance, the wall-to-wall smile. "I am overcome by the most terrible sadness I have ever known in my whole public life," said Brazil's onetime President. "In the expectancy that the cancellation of my political rights, and therefore my rights as a citizen, will be confirmed, I believe it is my duty to direct a few words to the Brazilian nation."

Last week Juscelino Kubitschek—not long ago considered the front-running presidential candidate for the 1965 elections and one of his country's most durable public figures—was fighting for his political life. Some time before June 14, Brazil's National Security Council will blacklist another group of Brazilians accused of Communism or cor ruption, depriving them of all political rights for the next ten years. On the list will be Congressmen, Senators, diplomats, businessmen, at least three state Governors, and some Cabinet members who served under deposed President Joao Goulart. At the top of the list, unless Brazil's new leaders back down, will be Kubitschek.

One More List. As Brazil's President from 1956 to 1961, Kubitschek raised farm and livestock output 37.9%, steel production 100%, aluminum production tenfold, oil production fifteenfold; he built the auto industry from scratch toward its present level of 174,000 units a year, added thousands of miles of roads and the new $600 million inland capital of Brasilia. But he also touched off an inflationary spiral and made many enemies with his damn-the-cost drive. After he left office, rumors of corruption constantly swirled around his administration; so far, however, there has been no proof.

When Goulart was tossed out last April, Kubitschek's enemies—among them Artur da Costa e Silva, Brazil's hard-bitten old War Minister — decided to settle matters with the ex-President as well. Their weapon was the National Security Council, composed of Cabinet ministers and key military leaders. While the fight against both Communism and graft remains urgent after Goulart's disastrous, Red-leaning misrule, some of the council's methods are alarming. The council denies suspects the right of defense, the right to know the specific charge, even the right to know that they are on trial; it deliberates in secret, then simply publishes its blacklists. So far, 167 politicians and government officials have lost their political rights in this way.

Catalogue of Sins. If the council's charges against Kubitschek were secret, newspapers and TV carried an impressive catalogue of sins. He is accused of buying 1 billion cruzeiros worth of rotten beans, of accepting huge kickbacks on construction jobs, awarding contracts without public bid, stealing federal funds and committing election fraud. Then there is the Communist angle. He is supposed to have signed a secret 1955 agreement with Communist Party Boss Luis Carlos Prestes to get his election support, encouraged Communist infiltration in his government, then paid Prestes $50,000 for his support in the 1965 elections.