The 1937 Brazilian coup d'état was led by President Getúlio Vargas with the support of the Brazilian Armed Forces on 10 November 1937. Vargas had ruled provisionally since 1930 with military backing, following a revolution that ended a decades-old oligarchy. In 1934, he became constitutional president, ineligible for re-election. He and his allies were unwilling to abandon power, and there was strong sentiment for a dictatorship amongst the military. Senior military officers used the Cohen Plan, fraudulently claimed to be written by communists, to provoke the National Congress into declaring a state of war. Vargas opponents were then undermined or forced into exile. On 10 November 1937, the police surrounded Congress, and Vargas proclaimed the Estado Novo ('New State'). An authoritarian state was installed, based on European fascism. Individual liberties and rights were stripped away, and Vargas ruled for eight more years. A 1945 military coup ended the regime and reestablished democracy. (Full article...)