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For decades Brazil has consistently presented poor educational outcomes compared to its Latin American neighbors. The literature suggests that elite-biased policies might be a cause of this lag. This article presents further evidence that educational policies pursued by Brazilian federal governments were elite biased in the period 1930–1964. Although primary schooling was the responsibility of state governments, a significant amount of tax revenues were in the hands of the federal government. Therefore, federal policies were important determinants of educational outcomes at all school levels. Evidence collected in speeches and in educational finance data show that Brazilian education policies tended to give little importance to primary education. In particular, the article shows that under the governments of Getúlio Vargas and Juscelino Kubitschek, those most committed to the strategy of import substitution industrialization, education policies favored tertiary education for the elites at the expense of primary education for the masses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the military relations between Brazil and the United States during the 1940s and the first half of the 1950s, with a focus on the impact of those relations on the Brazilian army, especially the Exército Brasileiro. Subjects discussed include the anti-communism movement in the context of an ideological polarization in the Exército, the participation of Brazil in the Korean War, and the military agreement with the U.S. signed by the government of President Getúlio Vargas in 1952. Particular attention is given to the historical role of General Newton Estillac Leal, who was the ministry of war in the government of Vargas.