At the junction of Rio de Janeiro's Avenida Rio Branco and Avenida Beira-Mar stands an obelisk, pride of the city. Last week 16 slouch-hatted gauchos (cowboys) with ponchos over their shoulders and red handkerchiefs knotted about their necks rode up to it and solemnly hitched their ponies to its base while camera shutters clicked and black-coated pedestrians cheered themselves hoarse. This was the final act of Brazil's revolution. The gauchos of Rio Grande do Sul (the southern state in which the revolt started), had vowed: "We'll hitch our ponies to the...
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