The Cohen Plan was a supposed document attributed to the communists, which would contain a project for the overthrow of the government of Getúlio Vargas and the establishment of a communist regime in Brazil.
The discovery of the plan, announced by the government on the radio on September 30, 1937, served as a justification for the establishment of a government of exception.
The threat contained in the Cohen Plan, similar to the Communist Intent of 1935 , defined, in a very detailed way, the triggering of strikes, demonstrations, depredations, looting and even attacks on government officials.
Understood as a risk to the government, the false discovery of the plan gave rise to a period of counter-revolution and anti-communism that culminated in the Estado Novo coup on November 1, 1937.
Years later, in 1945, it was discovered that the Cohen Plan was nothing more than a document forged by the integralists who supported the government of Getúlio Vargas and served as a justification for their permanence in power.
The communist threat and the Vargas reaction
On the day 30 September 1937 the Cohen Plan was announced, in detail, on the radio program “Hora do Brasil”, by the chief of staff of the Brazilian army, General Goés Monteiro .
After being announced, Getúlio Vargas asks the National Congress to declare a State of War to contain the communist threat and is soon answered, on October 1st.
On November 10th, Vargas carried out the Estado Novo coup or 1937 coup d'état and imposes a dictatorship.
The New State it was, therefore, the political regime that prevailed from 1937 to 1945 in the era of Getúlio's government known as the Vargas Era. During this period, the president imposed himself dictatorially.
Read more about the 1937 Constitution.
Unraveling the Hoax
In 1945, the Estado Novo was in crisis and it was revealed by General Goés Monteiro that the Cohen Plan was false. The document would have been forged by captain Olímpio Mourão Filho , of the Brazilian Integralist Action (AIB).
The AIB, which supported Getúlio Vargas, organized the alleged leak of the plan with the aim of keeping Getúlio in power.
As the presidential elections were approaching and Getúlio wanted to remain in power, he frightened people with the supposed plan.
The threats to members of the government, contained in the document presented, generated support for Vargas' proposal to remain in power, close the congress and establish a new political regime.
Once the farce was undone, the integralists denied the real intentions then revealed, stating that the plan had really been prepared by them, but only for the purposes of study. The same was an internal document that, therefore, could not have been disclosed.
Integralists blamed the disclosure on General Goés Monteiro. General Goés, for his part, disclaimed all blame. He claimed that the document had been seized by the Armed Forces and that, even if he had wanted to, he could not have revealed the fake due to the military discipline to which he was subject.
In any case, the false plan achieved its great objective:to serve as a justification for the advancement of the exceptional measures of the Getúlio Vargas government.
The name of the plan itself was strategically chosen for referring to the communist leader Bela Cohen , who ruled Hungary in 1919. This made the document more credible.
To learn more, see also:
- Communist Intent
- New Status
- Exercises on the Vargas Era