Vargas controlled Brazil for 18 years, first as a dictator and later as a democratically elected president. He was both an authoritarian and a populist, who started out as an admirer of the European fascists, Mussolini and Hitler. He banned strikes, but promoted industry in social welfare and he was determined to bring a new national identity to his vast country, then a loose confederation of states. 

 

He did so by championing those intellectuals who argued that Brazil should not be modeled on white Europe, but should positively celebrate racial mixing and Afro-Brazilian culture. The president spread the message using a new medium of nationwide radio stations, and by promoting Samba, now the government-approved symbol of Brazil’s racial democracy. 

 

"It was a, a really big cultural revolution going on in Brazil, a new music, a new way, I('m) thinking about Brazilian culture, all these things together. and, and, and, and the whole creation of media to, to, to broadcast the new ideas. So Vargas was very lucky to have all these tools."

 

The Vargas administration wanted to use Samba to unify Brazil, but in return, it was demanded that Samba should change. In 1936, it was announced that Samba musicians could now take part in the carnival parade. They raved in college to do so, but there were new strict rules. Samba schools were now required to present a national theme with a patriotic lesson.