Silence.
“You killed my father. I killed my father. My wife, my mother killed my father. He was an old Portuguese who didn’t know how to pretend he was something he wasn’t, a murderer, even to protect his son.”
“It’s too late now. Things are never the way they are, that’s life.”
“I want you to arrest me.”
“The case is closed.”
“Arrest me.”
Mattos grabbed Cosme by the arm and dragged him like a rag doll into his office. The inspector’s stomach burned. He threw the fragile youth’s body against the wall.
“Listen, you fool. I cannot and will not arrest you for that crime. I can’t salve your conscience, or your wife’s, or your mother’s. Don’t be stupid. There’s nothing more can be done. Get out of here and don’t come back. I don’t want to see your face ever again, live with that horrible memory for the rest of your life, just as I’ll have to live with it.”
“Sir—”
“Out! Out!”
Mattos, taking Cosme by the arms, led him to the office door, pushing him violently into the corridor and from there to the door opening onto the street.
AT A MEETING that lasted twelve hours, all the air force brigadiers present in the capital decided unanimously that only the resignation of President Vargas could restore calm to the country. The meeting was interrupted twice: for Brigadier Eduardo Gomes to communicate to the other military secretaries the assembly’s decision to issue a proclamation demanding Vargas’s resignation; for Eduardo Gomes to try to obtain the support of Marshal Mascarenhas de Morais, whose loyalty to Vargas was well known.
The meeting was held in an atmosphere of frenzy created by the lower-ranking officers. Editing the communiqué had been extremely difficult. On one side, the younger officers demanded in angry terms that the note directly accuse the president of the death of Major Vaz and demand his resignation. If he didn’t resign, he should be deposed by force of arms. On the other side, the brigadiers, more prudent and possessing a sharper sense of discipline and hierarchy, had no desire for the note to be characterized as subversive. If not for the presence of Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, the younger officers would have breached subordination and imposed their point of view. Brigadier Eduardo Gomes reflected that a struggle among comrades at that moment would only benefit the common enemy; he asked the younger officers to trust their chiefs, the chiefs present there, among whom was Air Force Secretary Epaminondas.
To go to the residence of Marshal Mascarenhas de Morais to communicate the decision of the assembled military men, in permanent session at the Aeronautics Club awaiting the outcome of the efforts of their leader, Eduardo Gomes was accompanied by Brigadier Ivã Carpenter and Generals Juarez Távora, Fiuza de Castro, and Canrobert. Eduardo Gomes had attempted, by taking with him important army generals, to obtain the support of the chief of the general staff of the armed forces. Once again the marshal called upon General Castello Branco as adviser. After hearing the visitors, the marshal stated that, although he deemed resignation a worthy solution, under no circumstance would he countenance its being imposed on the president of the Republic.
The marshal’s attitude disappointed the generals and brigadiers. However, given that the marshal’s reaction had not been one of violent repudiation of the subversive probe of his feelings, the would-be enticers left the marshal’s home believing that in case of a military coup the marshal would not fight against his colleagues in uniform.
As an assiduous follower of regulations, Mascarenhas de Morais related to Secretary Zenóbio, when he succeeded in finding him, what had happened. “The situation is serious, very serious,” Zenóbio had said. At seven that evening, the chief of the general staff went to Catete Palace, where he repeated to the president the meeting that had taken place at his residence.
“I will not resign. I was elected by the people and cannot leave expelled by the armed forces. I will only leave here dead,” said the president. Worried, the marshal noticed in his friend’s voice, more than challenge, sadness and regret.
Eduardo Gomes encountered difficulty in meeting with the secretary of war.
Zenóbio had gone to a luncheon and to watch horse races at the Jockey Club, in the Gávea district. The brigadier only managed to see him in his residence, at five p.m.
“The army will not permit subversion of order,” said Zenóbio curtly.
“Mr. Secretary, I’m not talking about subversion of order. I’ve come to advise you that if the president does not resign, there will be civil war,” answered Eduardo Gomes. “Consult your generals and you’ll find out, if you don’t know already, that our comrades in the army, as well as those in the navy, share the same sentiments of rebellion as their air force comrades.”
That same day, at his residence, which had been transformed into his general headquarters, Zenóbio conferred with Brigadier Epaminondas, secretary of the air force, who had been informed by Eduardo Gomes of the stance taken by the meeting at the Aeronautics Club. Present at the meeting of the two secretaries were General Odilio Denys, commander of the Eastern Military Zone, and Police Chief Colonel Paulo Torres.
Around ten o’clock that night, Zenóbio headed to the military compound, where the main army units in the capital were concentrated. He returned after midnight and went directly to the War Department, where almost all the generals on active duty in the Federal District were waiting for him. A communiqué was issued saying that the armed forces were united in defense of the law and the Constitution and that every measure had been taken to prevent subversion of order, from wherever the call for violation of the regime might come.
LATE THAT NIGHT, the home of Café Filho, vice president of the Republic, was packed with friends and fellow party members. Café Filho demonstrated good humor, giving vent to a characteristic of his personality that his friends called “blagueur spirit.” He refused to make any statement to the press.
THE WARSHIPS anchored in the Bay of Guanabara kept their engines running all night.
twenty-three
MATTOS READ in Monday’s newspapers the brigadiers’ communiqué about the Sunday meeting at the Aeronautics Club. To the inspector, the note, sketchy and obscure, would through its veiled threats increase the rumors flying in the city. “The general officers of the Brazilian Air Force, identifying with the feelings of the corps stemming from the criminal facts brought to light in the Police/Military Inquiry, once again express their gratitude for the solidarity received from the army and the navy, and the assurance that the armed forces, within the framework of order and discipline, and faithful to the Constitution, will not betray the confidence vested in them, in order that the current crisis may have a definitive and worthy conclusion. They also agreed that Brigadier Eduardo Gomes, the highest officer present at the meeting, should communicate to the secretaries of the military departments and to the chief of the general staff of the armed forces the unanimous decision taken there, as being one capable of restoring peace to the country.”
To Mattos, the note left an open field for speculation. But the secret word that Eduardo Gomes had taken to the secretaries wasn’t hard to imagine; the air force was demanding the removal of Vargas.
“In the War Palace, General Zenóbio, hero of the FEB and secretary of war, expressed complete satisfaction with the conduct of the troops at the military compound, who have remained at the ready for the safeguarding of the regime and the Constitution,” said Radio Globo. An identical announcement, also referring to Zenóbio as the hero of FEB, had been published that day by Última Hora. The government had decided to stop the “spreading of alarmist news.” The radio stations announced events, under police control. But by now censorship is useless, thought the inspector. At that juncture public opinion was no longer worth anything.