Gregório Fortunato confessed to involvement in the attempted assassination of journalist and politician Carlos Lacerda, which had taken place three days earlier on 5 August at Rua Tonelero in Rio de Janeiro. Vargas’s security chief was a central figure in the investigation, and his admission dramatically intensified the political crisis engulfing the Vargas administration. This confession shifted public and institutional scrutiny directly onto the presidency, feeding widespread outrage and deepening polarization in Brazil’s political scene.
