2 1 7 " /a : . DEPARTMENT OF STATE Amconsul Porto Alegre

2 1 7 " /a : . DEPARTMENT OF STATE Amconsul Porto Alegre

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Amconsul Porto Alegre
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: WEEKLY 3UT2.1ARY No. 2k
:
The Consulate recommends t h i s document not he disseminated
outside U.S. government o f f i c e s .
POLITICAL
1. Merry Christmas, l i d o Meneghetti.' Six Key Men Resign
Government Posts: More To Follow
2. Leading Goldfinch F l i e s Coop Following R i f i f i i n M.P. Barracks
5. UNESCO Continues To "Cut" U.S. I n Porto Alegre
k. Day Of The Seaman Wetly Celebrated Here
>
1.
Merry Christmas, l i d o Meneghetti!
More To Follow
Six Key Men Resign Government Posts:
When General (Reserve/l) Rui Sampaio, c h i e f o f the l o c a l o f f i c e o f t h e
Federal Service o f Prosecuting Offenses Against The n a t i o n a l Treasury
accused Sr. Jose' Mansur F i l h o , d i r e c t o r - p r e s i d e n t o f the State Bank o f Rio
Grande do Sul, o f f a i l i n g to l i v e up to h i s obligations toward t h e n a t i o n a l
treasury (See Weekly Summary No. 2 3 , A-27, December 9, 196k), he set o f f a
chain of events which has thus f a r r e s u l t e d i n the submission t o Governor
l e n e g h e t t i o f the f o l l o w i n g cabinet members and high state o f f i c i a l s :
A) Dr. Roy Cirne lima (no party, hut sympathetic toward PDC), Secretary
of the Treasury;
Dp. Jotb Leitao de Abreu (no p a r t y ) Chief o f t h e C i v i l Household;
Sr. E d i l b e r t o Degrazia (no p a r t y ) Sub-Chief o f the C i v i l Household.
B)
Sr. Jose' Mansur Filho (UDN) Director-President o f State Bank o f RGS;
Sr. Ayo^dmedes de Almeida (PDC) Vice-President o f State Bank o f RGS;
Col. Orlando Pacheco (PSD) Chief of the M i l i t a r y Household.
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Seneral Sampaio himself managed t o submit h i s r e s i g n a t i o n t o General Riograndino
Eruel, chief o f the n a t i o n a l Department o f Public Safety, only a short time before
he received Kruel's message t e l l i n g him t h a t he was f i r e d . He has been replaced
by an active Army o f f i c e r , L t . Col. Mario Tupinamba" Coelho, formerly o f the Jrd
jfechanized Reconnaissance Regiment, but he i s s t i l l t a l k i n g (See below).
"he resignations of Group A above were touched o f f by an i n c i d e n t i n v o l v i n g
Sol. Pecheco and Dr. LeitSo de Abreu, c h i e f s , r e s p e c t i v e l y , o f the Governor's
l i l i t a r y and C i v i l Households. Exactly what happened has not been disclosed,
although i t seems t o have been r e l a t i v e l y unimportant i n i t s e l f but o f disastrous
csGsolative e f f e c t . (Pacheco has r u f f l e d many feathers i n the Palacio P i r a t i n f since
he tech over h i s duties there. He i s a not unlovable, but d e f i n i t e l y t a c t l e s s man.)
As the three persons involved were very important f i g u r e s i n h i s scheme o f government, Ifeneghetti hoped t h a t a compromise could be reached which would a l l o w them
t o stay on i n r e t u r n f o r possibly only one or maybe two heads o f Group B. However,
Cirr.e Lima and the others asked f o r dismissal not only o f Pacheco but also o f Mansur
and f o r the removal o f A r i Delgado (PSD) from the p o s i t i o n o f ADP f l o o r leader i n
the Legislative Assembly. The r e s u l t was t h a t Mansur, Almeida and Pacheco submitted
t h e i r resignations, and the p o s s i b i l i t y appears good t h a t these w i l l be followed by
these of Secretary o f I n t e r i o r and J u s t i c e Paulo Brossard (PL), Secretary o f Public
Works Sinval G u a z z e l l l (UDH) and o f Colonel Octavio Frota ( p o l i t i c a l a l l e g i a n c e
unknown), commandant o f the Brigada M i l i t a r . Major Leo Etchegoyen, Secretary o f
Public Safety, has stated t h a t he, f o r one, was not going t o resign, and the PSD,
PHP arc PSP seem t o remain f i r m l y behind the Governor, although the PDC i s shaky
and the UDIJ v i r t u a l l y l o s t t o the ADP (government c o a l i t i o n ) . A " u s u a l l y w e l l i n formed." member o f the PDC remarked c h e e r f u l l y t o a member o f the Consulate s t a f f
t h a t impeachment o f the Governor could r e a d i l y be brought about.
The movement which brought about the exodus o f personnel described above s t a r t e d
some t i r e ago, even before the March-April r e v o l u t i o n . The main r e s p o n s i b i l i t y
appears t o r e s t w i t h the Partido L i b e r t a d o r (PL), which p u l l e d out o f the ADP at the
time Meneghetti announced h i s choice o f ex-Communist P l i n i o Cabral as c h i e f o f the
C i v i l Household. P l i n i o , although h i s name was cleared o f current sympathy toward
cccEunism, was nevertheless s a c r i f i c e d , as were other governmental f i g u r e s non gratae
t o the PL. I n r e t u r n , the PL r e j o i n e d the ADP, and secured f o r i t s l e a d i n g f i g u r e ,
Paulo Brossard, the important post o f Secretary o f I n t e r i o r and J u s t i c e , the so-called
' p o l i t i c a l " s e c r e t a r i a t . At the present time, i t would appear t o be making a b i d
f o r even greater representation, b u t , as a numerical!y small r i g h t i s t p a r t y w i t h
few powerful a l l i e s , i t would appear o b l i g e d t o keep Meneghetti i n the governor's
seat. lhe broadsides o f accusations being f i r e d by such persons as Rui Sampaio are
now h i t t i n g p r e t t y close t o t h a t seat, as they s t r i k e such persons as Joao Eurico
'Seneghetti, the Governor's son, who i s also h i s p a r t n e r i n the Fazenda I t a p u f and
other enterprises. JoSo Eurico, Mansur, Rubens Borges Fortes, and others close t o
Meneghetti appear t o have been involved i n some operations, i n c l u d i n g b u t not l i m i t e d
t o c a t t l e and gem smuggling, which could not stand the l i g h t o f i m p a r t i a l i n v e s t i gation, t o say nothing o f p a r t i s a n s c r u t i n y . I t i s hard t o see how Meneghetti can
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remain i r . o f f i c e unless a h a l t t o resignations and accusations i s called soon.
The Arsy w i l l presumably be heard from i n the near f u t u r e , as the only p o l i t i c a l
grcrc which i s c l e a r l y b e n e f i t i n g from these lamentable occurrences i s the PTB
ar_i i t s partners, i n or outside the boundaries of constituted p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s .
2.
Leading Goldfinch F l i e s Coop Following R i f i f i i n M.P. Barracks
Incredible as i t may seem, ex A i r Force Captain Alfredo Ribeiro Daudt, who had
been arrested on November 26 as he was t a k i n g o f f f o r Ii>nteviceo w i t h the plans o f
Qceracao Pintassilgos (Operation Goldfinch) i n h i s baggage, escaped on the morning
of December 13 from the barracks of the 6th (Amy) M i l i t a r y Police Company, which •
i s located i n a w e l l - l i t , w e l l - t r a v e l e d p a r t o f Porto Alegre, not f a r from the
ci%m.cc-cultural center which Leonel B r i z o l a l i k e d t o t h i n k o f as the Largo da Lega11dads. Better yet, Daudt escaped through the roof by removing the t i l e s , i n a
manner reminiscent of the burglars i n the f i l m R i f i f i , which f i l m made an a l l - t o o l a s t i n g e f f e c t upon Porto Alegre's c r i m i n a l element. Road blocks have been thrown
a r c u r i the c i t y , the a i r p o r t s closed t o a l l but scheduled commercial t r a f f i c , and
a l l other means o f egress closely watched. Goldfinch Daudt, however, i s presumably
"v -nne"
3.
V3SSC0
Continues To "Cut" U.S.
I n Porto Alegre
The papers report t h a t Monsieur Pierre Henquet, c h i e f o f the UNESCO mission
i n B r a z i l , w i l l be spending several days i n Porto Alegre w i t h a view t o examining
p o s s i b i l i t i e s o f s e t t i n g up a Latin-American course o f Hydraulic Engineering at the
I n s t i t u t e o f Hydraulic Research o f the U n i v e r s i t y o f Rio Grande do Sul. There was
no p a r t i c u l a r reason why he should wish t o contact the American Consulate, and,
l i k e ether UNESCO personnel who have been through here recently, he w i l l apparently
l i m i t h i s contacts outside u n i v e r s i t y c i r c l e s t o the A l l i a n c e Francajse and
consular outpost o f the French Republic*
k.
Day Of The Seaman Wefcly Celebrated Here
Sie Dia do Marinheiro was celebrated i n RGS by the v i s i t s t o Porto Alegre o f
the submarine Rumaita' 'and''of the corvette I m p e r i a l Marinheiro, and t o the p o r t o f
Rio Grande o f the submarine Rio Grande do Sul. A plaque bearing the names o f the
gazebos who gave t h e i r l i v e s during World War I I as members o f the B r a z i l i a n Navy
was unveiled i n the pouring r a i n a t the monument t o the Expeditionary Force i n f r o n t
of the Colegjo M i l i t a r , i n the presence o f Colonel Pacheco (see 1 above), several
fellov-Brigadianos, a goodly contingent from the two ships, the French and American
consuls, 1 j u n i o r Army o f f i c e r representing I I I Army CG Justino Alves Bastos, and
no one from the A i r Force. Brigadeiro Doorgal Borges, commanding the 5th A i r
Zone, made an appearance a t the Navy's reception the f o l l o w i n g day, although
f e e l i n g i s s t i l l running high i n the aftermath of the h e l i c o p t e r shooting i n c i d e n t
at the Canoas A i r Base (reported i n l a s t week's Summary).
cc: Embassy, Rio
Pol.Section, B r a s i l i a
Thomas J. D u f f i e l d
American Consul
ASA-IIA/BR, Washington
Za/RAR/P, Washington
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