Brazil marks death of key leader

By Steve Kingstone
BBC correspondent in Sao Paulo

Brazil is marking the 50th anniversary of the death of its most influential president, Getulio Vargas.

Mr Vargas, who held power over three decades from the 1930s, is remembered for ground-breaking social policies.

But he was also notoriously intolerant of opponents and in the middle of a political scandal in August 1954, he took his own life.

This anniversary is slipping by without fanfare. There were brief tributes to Mr Vargas in Brazil's parliament and a statue was unveiled in Rio de Janeiro.

But 50 years after his death, he remains a deeply divisive figure.

Suicide note

He came to power in 1930 through a coup and much of his rule was authoritarian.

He dissolved parliament, censored the press and tortured opponents.

Mr Vargas's supporters remember him as the father of the poor, a populist who built schools and created the minimum wage.

He also sent Brazilian troops to Europe to fight Hitler.

But the life of Mr Vargas is best remembered for the way it ended.

In 1954 he was under pressure to resign, following a murky assassination attempt on one of his rivals.

On 24 August, Vargas shot himself through the heart. His suicide note is one of Brazil's most famous documents.

It read: "I gave you my life, now I offer my death. I am leaving life to enter history."