BRAZIL: Democracy Mocked

"The electoral college is a farce," declared Brazilian Presidential Candidate Ulysses Guimaràes. So, too, he might have added, was the whole presidential campaign. Guimaràes and his opposition Brazilian Democratic Movement Party never had a chance against the country's ruling military dictatorship and its candidate, General Ernesto Geisel. Though the generals tried to give the election the trappings of democracy, they had no intention of losing. Portly, white-haired Geisel was hand-picked last summer by Outgoing President General Emilio Medici.

Geisel's "victory" was assured when the generals ruled that the President would be...