Getúlio Vargas Constitution that was supposed to be transitional pending new elections, Vargas assumed legislative as well as executive powers. Also, under the 1937 Constitution Vargas should have remained President for only six more years (until November 1943), but instead stayed in office until 1945. For all intents and purposes, Vargas ruled for eight years under what amounted to martial law. Vargas employed ambiguous policies towards Axis and Allied orbits. At first, Brazil seemed to be entering the Axis orbit — even before the 1937 declaration of the Estado Novo. Between 1933 and 1938, Germany became the main market for Brazilian cotton,
Virgilio Barco Vargas policies at first doomed the country. After two years of this, The Economic Openness program was initiated by his administration, which would open Colombian markets to the world and recharge the country's economy. He served one 4-year term. When he left the Presidency in 1990, he served as ambassador to Britain again until 1992. Barco was diagnosed with cancer and he died on May 20, 1997, in Bogotá when he was 75. He is now buried at Central Cemetery of Bogotá in Bogotá. Virgilio Barco Vargas Virgilio Barco Vargas (17 September 1921 – 20 May 1997) was the 27th President