Cohen Plan

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The Cohen Plan (Portuguese: Plano Cohen) was a document forged by the Brazilian military with the aim of establishing the Estado Novo dictatorship in November 1937. A conjunction between antisemitism and anti-communism in Brazilian politics, it was fraudulently attributed to the Communist International, which allegedly planned to overthrow the government through strikes, the burning of public buildings and popular demonstrations that would end in looting, chaos, and the murder of authorities. To introduce the fraud, it was "discovered" by the Armed Forces, immediately used to label the political opposition as communists, and then to legitimize the 1937 coup d'état. With the approach of the presidential elections scheduled for 1938, the absence of a candidate that pleased the government and with the impossibility of extending his term, president Getúlio Vargas and general Eurico Gaspar Dutra began to plan a coup d'état; the coup would only work if it appeared to be a matter of national necessity. The government's military leadership identified the need to "reveal" new facts that would create a climate of insecurity and instability, and thus the idea of creating the Cohen Plan was born. The document was sent by general Pedro Aurélio de Góis Monteiro, chief of the Army's General Staff, to the country's main military authorities and, at an official meeting of military members of the government, it was presented as if it had been seized by the Armed Forces. Dutra and others present expressed their full conviction regarding the imminence of a communist coup and the need for the Armed Forces to act with vigor. The Cohen Plan was then publicized, triggering public commotion and a strong anti-communist campaign. Vargas took advantage of the false threat to pressure the National Congress to declare a state of war, which gave him powers to remove his opponents. On...