Vargas Era Vargas Era The Vargas Era (Portuguese: "Era Vargas"; ) is the period in the history of Brazil between 1930 and 1945, when the country was under the dictatorship of Getúlio Vargas. The Brazilian Revolution of 1930 marked the end of the Old Republic. President Washington Luís was deposed; the swearing-in of President-elect Julio Prestes was blocked, on the grounds that the election had been rigged by his supporters; the 1891 Constitution was abrogated, the National Congress was dissolved and the provisional military junta ceded power to Vargas. Federal intervention in State governments increased and the political landscape was altered by
Vargas Era new Congress, as well as a referendum to confirm Vargas' actions. However, neither were held — ostensibly due to the dangerous international situation. Instead, under an article of the Constitution that was supposed to be transitional pending new elections, the President assumed legislative as well as executive powers. For all intents and purposes, Vargas ruled for eight years under what amounted to martial law. Also, under the 1937 Constitution Vargas should have remained President for only six more years (until November 1943). Instead—again presumably due to the dangerous international situation—he remained in power until his overthrow in 1945. The Estado