Ex Brazilian president Goulart poisoned in 1976?

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The press in Brazil is abuzz about supposed new revelations surrounding the death 32 years ago of former President Joao Goulart. Goulart was ousted by a military coup in 1964. Democracy didn’t return to Brazil until 1985. Goulart, meantime, died in exile in Argentina in 1976, supposedly of a heart attack. But an ex-Uruguayan intelligence officer told Folha de Sao Paulo that Goulart was poisoned, and pointed to the involvement of the CIA. Brazil’s military leaders wanted Goulart dead, the ex-spy told the newspaper.

Back in 1964, U.S. officials welcomed the ousting of Goulart, who was regarded in Washington as a dangerous leftist, despite his democratic pedigree. In the midst of the Cold War, the White House feared a new Cuba in the largest nation in Latin America. Documents unearthed by the independent National Security Archive show the personal interest of President Johnson in the case. But there is no evidence of direct U.S. involvement in the coup, nor of any subsequent plot to poison the ex-president.

U.S. and Brazilian officials had no comment for the Sao Paulo newspaper on the latest reports on Goulart, known as Jango. And the source is suspect: The ex-Uruguayan spook who says Goulart was poisoned was interviewed in a Brazilian prison, where he is serving time for arms trafficking and using false identities.

-- Patrick J. McDonnell in Rio de Janeiro