Brazilian WI: Luís Carlos Prestes doesn't become a communist?

Vinization

Luís Carlos Prestes was, by far, the most prominent representative of Brazilian communism, having served as general secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB, not to be confused with PCdoB, which had a Maoist inclination) from 1943 until 1980. The "Knight of Hope", as he was known, became a living legend after leading (alongside Miguel Costa) a 25.000 kilometer march into the Brazilian interior in a failed attempt to bring down the Old Republic.

However, he only came in contact with Marxist ideas in December 1927, when Astrojildo Pereira, general secretary of the then newly founded PCB, met with him in Puerto Suárez, Bolivia, and was repeatedly sought after by revolutionaries and communists from all over Latin America. By the time the protagonists of the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 began their plan to overthrow the oligarchic government, Prestes rejected their invitation to become their military leader, stating that all the revolution would do is swap one current ruling class with another.

But what if Astrojildo failed to contact him, or Prestes concluded that Marxism, as interesting as it could be, just wasn't compatible with what Brazil needed? I assume he'd accept the revolutionaries' offer to lead them, and thus play an important role in Getúlio Vargas' rise to power. Would he be appointed to the governorship of an important state (perhaps São Paulo, potentially averting the 1932 revolt), or be given a cabinet post?

I wonder if Vargas would see him as a threat after a few years, thanks to his prestige.

@Gukpard @Guilherme Loureiro @unnaturalmilk
 
Gukpard

Gukpard

Vinization said:
Luís Carlos Prestes was, by far, the most prominent representative of Brazilian communism, having served as general secretary of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB, not to be confused with PCdoB, which had a Maoist inclination) from 1943 until 1980. The "Knight of Hope", as he was known, became a living legend after leading (alongside Miguel Costa) a 25.000 kilometer march into the Brazilian interior in a failed attempt to bring down the Old Republic.

However, he only came in contact with Marxist ideas in December 1927, when Astrojildo Pereira, general secretary of the then newly founded PCB, met with him in Puerto Suárez, Bolivia, and was repeatedly sought after by revolutionaries and communists from all over Latin America. By the time the protagonists of the Brazilian Revolution of 1930 began their plan to overthrow the oligarchic government, Prestes rejected their invitation to become their military leader, stating that all the revolution would do is swap one current ruling class with another.

But what if Astrojildo failed to contact him, or Prestes concluded that Marxism, as interesting as it could be, just wasn't compatible with what Brazil needed? I assume he'd accept the revolutionaries' offer to lead them, and thus play an important role in Getúlio Vargas' rise to power. Would he be appointed to the governorship of an important state (perhaps São Paulo, potentially averting the 1932 revolt), or be given a cabinet post?

I wonder if Vargas would see him as a threat after a few years, thanks to his prestige.

@Gukpard @Guilherme Loureiro @unnaturalmilk
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To quote a friend of mine: The worst thing Prestes ever did was to open a book of Marx.

So, first the PCB is going to be more successful since he was a terrible leader. Second of all, Prestes might end as one of the pro Vargas tenentists, since he was able to work with Vargas OTL. Since he was a gaucho he surely would end in the PTB after the democratisation and at this point history for him has drifted so far that he could end as a governor, or maybe as a Brizola ally in the army and take part in the legalidade campaign, who knows?

The PCB in another hand is going to be adamantly against Vargas. The 1935 intentona is also not going to happen since that was just a case of Prestes doing a blunder (one of his supporters said that he was a private with an ego of a Field Marshal). Maybe this can avoid the New State dictatorship altogether.
 

Vinization

Gukpard said:
Since he was a gaucho he surely would end in the PTB after the democratisation and at this point history for him has drifted so far that he could end as a governor, or maybe as a Brizola ally in the army and take part in the legalidade campaign, who knows?
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You're getting a bit ahead of yourself Gukpa, because of precisely this:

Gukpard said:
The 1935 intentona is also not going to happen since that was just a case of Prestes doing a blunder (one of his supporters said that he was a private with an ego of a Field Marshal). Maybe this can avoid the New State dictatorship altogether.
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Without the Intentona and the Estado Novo, Brazilian history will be unrecognizable from the 1930s onward. Hopefully this means Pedro Ernesto becomes president at some point (he was a close ally of Vargas before they parted ways over the years, maybe he could take José Américo's place in the 1938 elections), since he built several schools and hospitals during his time as mayor of Rio de Janeiro. Plus, his minister of education would almost certainly be Anísio Teixeira.
 
Taunay

Taunay

If Prestes is appointed Governor of São Paulo, there's no reason he can't go up the political ladder, except for his personality (As mentioned by Gukpard)
 
Gukpard

Gukpard

Vinization said:
You're getting a bit ahead of yourself Gukpa, because of precisely this:


Without the Intentona and the Estado Novo, Brazilian history will be unrecognizable from the 1930s onward. Hopefully this means Pedro Ernesto becomes president at some point (he was a close ally of Vargas before they parted ways over the years, maybe he could take José Américo's place in the 1938 elections), since he built several schools and hospitals during his time as mayor of Rio de Janeiro. Plus, his minister of education would almost certainly be Anísio Teixeira.
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Yeah, I should have made it more clear that the first part was only if we had a similar case to otl.

It is funny how Ernesto was Vargas most effective enemy in the post intentona, just to reconcile with him in 42 :p . Anyway, in that case Prestes could be a left wing varguist and maybe be a minister of defense somewhere in the 60s...
 
Gukpard

Gukpard

unnaturalmilk said:
If Prestes is appointed Governor of São Paulo, there's no reason he can't go up the political ladder, except for his personality (As mentioned by Gukpard)
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He wouldn't last long, he's not a paulista. He could somehow end as a governor of Rio Grande do Sul instead.
 

nagachate

Gukpard said:
So, first the PCB is going to be more successful since he was a terrible leader.
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Maybe the PCB doesn't develop its obsession with a glorified officers' coup and actually tries to mobilize the peasentry, like they'd do in the 50s(by then imo kinda too late)?
 
Gukpard

Gukpard

nagachate said:
Maybe the PCB doesn't develop its obsession with a glorified officers' coup and actually tries to mobilize the peasentry, like they'd do in the 50s(by then imo kinda too late)?
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That was the sensible thing to do, yes. The question is who would lead that.
 

nagachate

Gukpard said:
That was the sensible thing to do, yes. The question is who would lead that.
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Well idk a whole lot about who was who in the PCB, but i think most of the early members were just converted AnComs and AnSynds, no? Makes a bit hard to find a less urban-centric communist.

If we wanna force it a bit, i've thought that in a timeline where some sort of red-black revolution/civil war in post-ww1 Italy, maybe the heavily italian communist movement in Brazil could draw from Malatesta's peasent oriented anarchism, but again that's pushing it.
 
Gukpard

Gukpard

nagachate said:
Well idk a whole lot about who was who in the PCB, but i think most of the early members were just converted AnComs and AnSynds, no? Makes a bit hard to find a less urban-centric communist.

If we wanna force it a bit, i've thought that in a timeline where some sort of red-black revolution/civil war in post-ww1 Italy, maybe the heavily italian communist movement in Brazil could draw from Malatesta's peasent oriented anarchism, but again that's pushing it.
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Yeah, basically the most succesfull brazilian left wing ideology was anarchism, communism in Brazil is extremely overrated

There is this youtuber here who made a video about it once
 

nagachate

raharris1973 said:
What's the maximum potential impact of politicized Anarchist ideology on Brazil?
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Thats a good question, ive asked myself the same, but idk. I feel like a Brazilian makhnovshchiba would ASB without a major POD. The only example we havevare the failed utopian settlements like Colonia Cecilia.
 

raharris1973

nagachate said:
Thats a good question, ive asked myself the same, but idk. I feel like a Brazilian makhnovshchiba would ASB without a major POD. The only example we havevare the failed utopian settlements like Colonia Cecilia.
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Not that you'd necessarily know, but what about Anarchism, Anarcho-Syndicalism's potential in Argentina?
 
Gukpard

Gukpard

raharris1973 said:
What's the maximum potential impact of politicized Anarchist ideology on Brazil?
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A few cities fell to local revolutionary movements, such as São Paulo in 1924 and the Manaus Commune, so the anarchists might be able to seize a few cities before being beaten back
 
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