Organizações armadas e camponeses: comunicação, emoções e engajamento político (1968-1975)

Abstract

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Brazilian revolutionary organizations - inspired by the Chinese and Cuban Revolutions - attempted to advance an opposition to the military dictatorship of the time by mobilizing peasants to engage in rural guerrilla groups. This thesis analyzes the relationship between the militants of these organizations and the peasants they attempted to mobilize. The questions that guide the research are the following: what was the nature of the communicative interaction between the militants and the peasants; how did militants present their proposals for armed revolution; what role did emotions play in the peasants' decision to engage in the guerrilla project; how did militant clandestinity impact their interaction with local populations, and what were the effects of the adoption of a Leninist perspective by the militants on their interaction with peasants and how did landlessness affected this context? Among the main inspirations for this work are the contributions of Paulo Freire and Jesus Martin-Barbero on communication; James Jasper and Helena Flam on emotions; Donatela Della Porta on clandestinity; Oliver Fillieule, Julieta Quirós, Marcelo Kunrath Silva and Bianca Ruskowski on engagement; Eric Wolf and James Scott on the relationship between peasantry and revolution. The thesis investigates the experiences of the National Liberation Command (Comando de Libertação Nacional - Colina) in Cachoeiras de Macacu/RJ; the Revolutionary Armed Vanguard Palmares (Vanguarda Armada Revolucionária Palmares - VAR-Palmares), in Imperatriz/MA; the Revolutionary Movement of October, 8th (Movimento Revolucionário Oito de Outubro - MR-8) in Brotas de Macaúbas/BA; and the Popular Action (Ação Popular - AP), in Livramento de Nossa Senhora/BA and region. The research uses oral history, bibliographic, and documentary analysis as a methodological approach to compare and analyze selected cases. The results of the research indicate that, despite the effort of the militants to become close to the peasants, generally the cultural differences led the latter to distrust the former. The various forms of assistance provided by militants contributed to the production of reciprocal emotions of friendship and loyalty, as well as to the process of engagement of some groups of peasants