LONG STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS TOTAL WAR

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23944, 11 May 1943, Page 4

LONG STEPS TAKEN TOWARDS TOTAL WAR

brazil

More than six months have passed since President Vargas formally proclaimed the existence of a state of war with Germany and Italy. There was then no doubt of the patriotic ervour which animated Brazilians, old and young. People and Government saw eye to eye. Now' the country has taken long steps on the road to total war. Brazil has opened her airports, bases, and harbours to the Allies. Her naval units and her air force are co-operating with United States and British units in convoy and patrol. New vessels are being added to the Brazilian fleet, and new aircraft to the air arm. The closest liaison has been established between Brazilian - and United States armed forces. Meanwhile, Brazilians are turning their huge country, 15 times the size of France, into a reservoir of SU At I Natal, Presidents Roosevelt and Vargas declared their joint aim "to make the Atlantic safe for all.’ The statement was couched in terms of offensive rather than defensive action, and it is a significant commentary on the changed strategic picture. Long before her formal entry into the war, Brazil had entered into plans with the United States for cooperation m defence. Lend-lease aid had been extended to Brazil on a considerable scale, and in August a joint United States-Brazilian Defence Board was established. Natal, with the strategic zone between Fortaleza and Bahia, was then regarded as the Achilles heel ol America, exposed to Axis attack across the "straits of Dakar,” and Brazil concentrated on building up the defences of that area. Vital Sea Lanes To-day the boot is on the other leg. Natal now points to Dakar, not Dakar to Natal, and it is the jumping-off place for bombers and cargo aeroplanes. But the submarine menace remains. The work of the Brazilian navy and air force in assisting to keep the sea janes and supply routes open, patrolling 4000 miles of coast, and ranging far out into the Atlantic, is as vital as it is hazardous By sea southern Brazil supplies northern Brazil, for the dream of a modern highway linking north and south is still unrealised; and by sea the great resources of Brazil, her vital strategic materials, are made available to the United Nations. The need to reduce civilian supplies to a minimum and the demands on shipping space Have already greatly changed the normal pattern of Brazilian life. Shortages, transport difficulties, rationing systems, price controls, air-raid precautions, salvage collections, .these bring the war to every home; and both militarily and economically the country has been put on a war footing. Hours of work have been extended. Steps have been taken to adjust *the financial system to war-time needs. Investment in war bonds has been made compulsory and in September Senhor Joao Alberto Lins de Barros, a long-standing and influential friend of President Vargas and lately the first Brazilian Minister to Canada, was appointed to the post of Co-ordinator of Economic Mobilisation, charged with mobilising the entire economic resources of the country. The powers granted to Senhor Joao Alberto are so ramified that they extend to almost every aspect of Brazil s economic life. He nas recently established a Section of Industrial Production, with' headquarters in Rio de Ja-

[By a Correspondent] (Published by arrangement with “The Times.")

neiro, and regional offices in other parts of the country, in order to har ness Brazilian industry to the war effort, and a technical mission, of which he is head, has been working with a similar United States mission under Mr Morris L. Cooke, formerly administra. tor of the Rural Electrification Admin, istration and chairman of the Missis, sippi Valley and Great Plains Cossaiis, sions, in order to study the me“m es necessary for increasing the odt&l. 0 f essential goods<- improving tranjflrt facilities, and adapting local industries for the use of Brazilian raw materials and fuels. Increased Production During the last year the United States has granted production credits to Brazil, and under a series of agree! ments it is assisting in the construe, tion of the new Volta Redonda steel plant, guaranteeing the purchase of coffee, cocoa, and Brazil nuts, buying the entire exportable surpluses orve» large quantities of the strategic terials in which Brazil is so rich, front bauxite, manganese, nickel, and industrial diamonds to babassu kernels and a variety of vegetable oils, and partici. pating in the rubber development programme in the Amazon valley. There a special Brazilian Mobilisation Service and Supplies Commission are at work and a sanitation programme is being put into operation. Brazil has hopes of producing 50,000 tons of rubber this year. As to the steel industry, Senhor Joao Alberto has'said that the Volte Redonda plant will be working at lull pressure within a year. This is only a partial picture of the energies now being expended in the intensification of Brazilian production and the diversification of the Brazilian economy. Their importance from the point of view of the war effort is obvi* ous. But they should mean also g long-rtfnge improvement in the economic position of Brazil. Though Sao Paulo has long been the greatest industrial centre in South America, the conventional picture of Brazil is aland of mile upon miles of coffee plants, tions, of great cattle ranges, of acres of sugar cane. It is a new Brazil that is arising under President Vargas, Though industrialisation is still in its adolescence, in the last few years it has made rapid strides. What is now offered is the opportunity for the per* manent expansion of Brazil’s industrial life. A Promising Future Brazil, the heads of the Brazilian and United States Technical Missions have recently affirmed, will emerge from the war less dependent on the outside world as the sole source of industrial machinery and of metals and metal manufactures. This does not mean that Brazil aims at "the insular notion ot complete economic self-sufficiency," But the future, Senhor Joao Alberto and Mr Cooke remark, belongs to electricity rather than to steam, to aluminium rather than to steel, «nd to air transport rather than to railways. And for this future, Brazil, with its great hydro-electric possibilities and its rich bauxite and magnesium deposits, is admirably equipped. Brazil to-day has assumed the leu* ership of South America. She has emphasised her complete -Identity pi views with the United Nations by subscribing to the Atlantic Charter, and her material and military contribution to the war effort is on an increasing scale.