Brazil: Headway at Last

"Things are looking better," said a Rio banker. "Things are looking better," agreed an important army colonel. "Things are looking better," chimed in a wealthy ore exporter. It might not show everywhere — inflation pushed ahead 86.6% in 1964 —but a mood of optimism was spreading across Brazil.

Of course, summer has arrived, and carnival could not be far behind, a carnival that in this, Rio de Janeiro's 400th anniversary year, promises to be a bash of sensational proportions. But that is not it. Brazilians have suddenly realized that the revolutionary government is getting somewhere. After...