In the 60s and 70s, Brazil faced a period of persecution, violence and censorship, called Military Dictatorship. Frightened by the growth of communism in the world, the military took power, overthrowing President João Goulart. The 60's were marked by a huge terror. Weakened around 68, the militants, influenced by the rural warfare tactics of Mao Tse-tung and Che Guevara, concentrated their last forces in the countryside. One group lodged on the banks of the Araguaia River, which covers part of the states of Pará, Maranhão and Goiás. In the early 70's, the Araguaia guerrilla broke out.
Organized by the Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B), the Araguaia guerrilla, a priori, was an armed struggle movement between the communists and the military. With the introduction of Institutional Act No. 5 (AI-5), the situation in urban centers worsened. A new strategy was needed. Since 1960, the militants have had men on the banks of the Araguaia. These men integrated with the riverside dwellers, teaching them military tactics. What facilitated this approach was the repudiation of landowners, rubber tappers and captains by the riverine people, who were informed by the communists about the links between these squatters and the forces of the dictatorship. With common interests, the riverside dwellers allied themselves with the communists, giving them, in exchange, food, housing and knowledge about the area. This factor was decisive in the development of the guerrilla.
The guerrilla war against militants developed on three fronts, the first two being the communists. In addition to not knowing the area, the military lacked the prestige of the local population. On the contrary, they were hated. Communists hurled themselves into the woods whenever any threat was detected. And without the support of the population, military success was almost impossible. Almost, because on the third front, the military entered the game. Months before the clash, troops infiltrated the riverside and were learning about the area and collecting information about the militants who were there. With a few doses of cruelty, they tortured locals in order to find out more about the militants. And it was with this “decency” that, in 1973, the communists were surrounded and the left organizations were defeated. The military armed themselves with FAL rifles (the communists had rifles), abused the use of helicopters and planes, set fire to all the huts they found along the way, destroyed food warehouses that were built in nearby villages, and, based on information from informers and deceived riverine people, weakened the communists and the defeated. They won by fatigue.
The Araguaia guerrilla was not successful, but in the tactical sphere, it can be said that it was victorious. It showed failures of both the revolutionaries and the military troops. The military spread slanders about the guerrillas among the population, saying they were bandits, Cubans, Russians. The population, coerced, denounced them. And on the part of the guerrillas, the biggest failure was to underestimate the enemy on account of the first two fronts.
The press only released the guerrilla war after its end. Censored by the dictatorship, it did not cover the events and many did not even know what was happening in the interior of the country. Captured Communists were shot or beheaded. The military turned the banks of the Araguaia into an open cemetery.
By Demercino Junior
Graduated in History
Brazil School Team
20th century - wars - Brazil School
Source: Brazil School - https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/guerras/a-guerrilha-araguaia.htm
