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‘ Cúmplices da sua política tirânica ’: The Arming of a Tyrant and Brazil’s Role in the Military Escalation of the Latin American Cold War, 1944–54

Rodrigo Véliz Estrada

Journal of Latin American Studies2025https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022216x2510120xarticle
AJG 2
Weight
0.37

What the paper says

This article examines why, beginning in 1946, the Brazilian government under President Eurico Dutra supplied arms to Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo, fuelling a regional arms race and reshaping Caribbean Basin dynamics at the onset of the Cold War. It argues that these transfers bypassed conventional diplomatic channels, reflected radical anti-communist currents within Dutra’s inner circle and undercut US non-proliferation efforts. Far from a passive ally, Brazil emerged as a pivotal, if under-recognised, actor in the continental polarisation that led to democratic collapse in Venezuela (1948), Cuba (1952) and Guatemala (1954). The article challenges assumptions of Brazil’s limited Latin American engagement and repositions Dutra’s foreign policy within broader continental strategies of ideological alignment and regional influence. Drawing on Brazilian diplomatic and press sources, as well as archival and printed materials from across Latin America, Europe and the United States, it addresses historiographical gaps around Dutra’s agency and reveals the material underpinnings of Trujillo’s aggression, contributing to a revised understanding of Brazil’s Cold War trajectory.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022216x2510120x

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@article{rodrigo2025,
  title        = {{‘ Cúmplices da sua política tirânica ’: The Arming of a Tyrant and Brazil’s Role in the Military Escalation of the Latin American Cold War, 1944–54}},
  author       = {Rodrigo Véliz Estrada},
  journal      = {Journal of Latin American Studies},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022216x2510120x},
}

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‘ Cúmplices da sua política tirânica ’: The Arming of a Tyrant and Brazil’s Role in the Military Escalation of the Latin American Cold War, 1944–54

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.