Strong Arm's Strong Arm

To the world at large, Brazil's brilliant Oswaldo Aranha is one of his nation's best-known citizens. In his time he has held a long string of high-level government and international posts: Finance Minister, Foreign Minister, Justice Minister, Ambassador to the U.S., head of the Brazilian delegation to the U.N., president of the U.N. General Assembly in 1947. Last week, while keeping his current job as Finance Minister, Aranha added a new title: Agriculture Minister.

When he needs a strong right arm, President Getulio Vargas always calls on Oswaldo Aranha, leader of the 1930 Gaucho march that first made Vargas dictator. A year ago, Vargas, battling economic troubles, made Aranha Finance Minister. The immediate problem was a foreign-exchange shortage, but the basic sickness of the nation's economy, as Aranha diagnosed it, was that agriculture had been neglected. Aranha decided to 1) cut nonessential imports by making importers pay the government a premium for the necessary foreign currencies; 2) use part of the profits from foreign-currency sales for bolstering agriculture. Since aid to farmers is an important part of his economic program, it was logical for Aranha eventually to take over the agriculture ministry.

With two Cabinet portfolios Aranha would have plenty of problems, even without Getulio Vargas' politicking. But last month Vargas bowed to labor and doubled the nation's minimum wages. That set off a new round of price rises and led to new union demands for a price freeze. With congressional elections due in October, Vargas may insist that Aranha, who is in favor of letting supply & demand set the price level, try to nail down food prices. But the fact that he took on the new Cabinet job last week shows that nervy Oswaldo Aranha is in no mood to give in easily.

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