That sounds wise. What economic policies could kickstart rapid industrial growth?
Given the PoD is (fairly) early what would you say the maximum living standards an effective republican Brazil could reach?
A simple one would be to start with textiles, at the time Pernambuco was the principal cotton producing state, and Recife was the principal cotton-exporting port. Perhaps attention is given towards alleviating poverty in the northeast of the country, whereby a protectionist policy against imported textiles is instituted. The state gives incentives to produce cotton textiles and fibers in and around the Recife area. Perhaps with some success it can undercut the prices of British textiles just as the Japanese did, so that they were the leading cotton-textile exporting nation by the 1930s. They can also incentivize the building of steel mills around Itabira using the iron ore depsoits there and a railway to the port of Vitoria. This could be part of plan to create a sort of "development corridor" in the region.