Anarchism In Brazil, Pt. 2 feat. Andrew

Andrew continues his conversation with Garrison about the development of Brazilian Anarchism during repression and fascist violence in the 20th century.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Zon Media.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Welcome toick it up in here. I'm address Age of
the Future Channel Andrewism. Today were continuing the Latin American
Anarchism series with our exploration of anarchism in Brazil. I'm
joined by Garrison Davis. Hello there, and once again thanks
to the scholarship of Edgar Rodriguez, Jesse Cohen, Philippe Coreer,
Raphael Vianna, Li Silva Cowan, Williando Santos, Eddie Laine Toledo

(00:29):
and Luigi Biondi. When we last left off, anarchist labor
resistance in Brazil had triggered a turning point and a reaction.
Weakened by the splits caused by the Bolsheviks and the
military repression of the government, another faction would step in
to cripple the anarchist cause even further, the Integralists. In
the nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties, Brazil saw the rise

(00:53):
of the Brasilian integralist action, the aib A nationalist movement
led by Pinio Salgado. During a trip to Europe, Salgado
became enamored with Benito Mussolini's fascist movement in Italy. Upon
his return to Brazil, and at the height of Catulio
Argus's dictatorship, which was ushered in thanks to a cool
weather liberal alliance, Salgado founded the Society for Political Studies,

(01:17):
gathering intellectuals who were sympathetic to fascism. Then he essumed
the October Manifesto, laying out the groundwork for the Brazilian
Integralist Action. The movement closely mirrored Italian fascism with its
green shirted paramilitary wing, regimented demonstrations, and militant rhetoric. Though
Salgado publicly rejected racism, many members of his party adopted

(01:40):
anti Semitic views. Integralism was financed in part by the
Italian embassy, with the Roman salute and the Tupi word
an nawe meaning you are my brother, as key symbols
of the unity. Integralist Action drew its support from lower
middle class Italians and Portuguese immigrants, alongside sections of the
Brazilian military, particularly the navy. As the party grew, it

(02:04):
became the dictator of Vargas's primary right wing basis support,
especially after he began to crack down on the Communist Party.
Integrilists frequently engaged in street violence and terrorism aimed at
leftist groups. In nineteen fifty one, Vargas introduced the Labor
Regulations based and Mussolini's Labor Charter. Independent industrial unions were banned.

(02:26):
Union membership had to be registered with the Ministry of Labor,
two thirds of the union membership had to be native
born or naturalized Brazilians. Oh no, yeah, and union officers
were required to either be resident in Brazil for ten
years if naturalized, or thirty years if foreign born.

Speaker 3 (02:42):
That's pretty fucked up, I would assume, also just very
damaging to the entire labor movement in the country, A
very intense series of restrictions.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Yes, as a very immigrant empowered labor movement. Yeah, yeah,
that was definitely targeted. Definitely, definitely targeted. Obviously, like the
class consciousness of the immigrant workers was such a threat
that they had to root them out from any position
of influence within the sanctioned unions. Salgado and the Integralists,

(03:12):
of course, welcomed these degrees and worked with the police
to capture militant workers. The communists also apparently welcomed the
impositions the Ministry of Labor. Meanwhile, anarchists and workers were
weathering rightist violence. One time integralists kicked down the doors
of the bakery workers union, the construction workers leave the
mill and warehouse operatives, Stonemasons Union and Union of cafe employees,

(03:36):
destroy their assets and extra judiciously hauled away the workers
as prisoners.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
So they just started like kidnapping people and doing like
basically state sanctioned terrorism exactly.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Another integralist, Gustavo Barosso, used his walk in stick to
break the arm of an anti fascist sixteen year old
worker named neer Colejo as she was making a speed
against fascism.

Speaker 3 (04:01):
Time is a flat circle.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Indeed it is instead of sticks this time they're using cars,
but it's the same same principle and sticks. Oh yeah,
people are still collecting sticks.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
I have been hit by many a stick from a
fascist at a street demo, especially as a teenager.

Speaker 2 (04:19):
M down. So with all this violence, the deal with
in this time, the anarchist presses had to hounked down
and prepare to face foot attacks. In nineteen thirty three,
the Libertarian Anti Fascist Committee sounded alarm on the dire
threat of integralism, as what anarchist press wrote, like fascism,
integralism means to enslave and fetter the people that has

(04:41):
now defend our liberty like men. Let's we be forced
to weep like mad men hereafter. On December twenty fourth,
nineteen thirty three, the tensions were an all time high
for when it humiliates and defeat At the Salon su
Garcia Planio, Salgado's Integralists, known as the Green Shirts, planned
a show of force to assert their dominance their targets

(05:04):
union leaders and leftists, particularly anarchists, who sit against their
fascist vision for Brazil. According to reports from those of
US on December first, the Integralists had organized eighteen companies
of green shirted marchers who would parade through the heart
of South Paolo, prepared to crush any resistance that came
their way. Reinforcements from Rudishonneiro, led by Gustavo Barosso, bolstered

(05:28):
their numbers with five hundred trained assault troops prime to attack.
The police, of course, were openly supported of the Integralists,
and at even stationed machine guns at key points throughout
the city to ensure the march went smoothly. Arleino de
Olivera had an additional four hundred troops made up of infantry,

(05:49):
fire brigade units and cavalry ready to intervene. Seems like
clear overkill, but it was a show of force so
as to be expected. By the time the marchers reached
the pressure that say, a huge crowd had gathered, some
curious onlookers, others outright opponents of the fascist movement. As
the Integrolists survived at the cathedral, cries of death to

(06:11):
the Fascists and down with the Green Shirts echoed throughout
the square. Suddenly shots rang out. Some say the fire
and began accidentally when a machine gun set up by
the Civil Guard was nudged. Others claim it was the
communists lying in wait, ready to ambush the march. Regardless,

(06:33):
chaos erupted before the anarchists had even initiated their planned attack.
The scene quickly evolved into pandemonium. People fled in terror,
shots continued to fire, and several were mortally wounded. The
planned pledge of loyalty to Plingeo. Salgado, the head of
the Integralists, never took place that day, but by nineteen
thirty seven, Salgado launched a presidential campaign, hoping to ride

(06:57):
the wave of crow and support for his movement and
became dictator in his own right. However, when Varragas canceled
the elections and established the authoritarian Estado Novo regime, he
banned the Integralist Party along with all the others sideline in.
Salgado in response, and targoless militants launched two uprisings in
nineteen thirty eight, both of which failed. Salgado was imprisoned

(07:20):
and lad to exile to Portugal. After spending most of
his life supporting the dictators of Brazil, his attempts to
become one of his own utterly failed.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
There's a few interesting things in this moment here, particularly
like how the initial struggle against fascism once again and
kind of laid at the feet of anarchists and communists,
had like a degree of hesitancy to like to like
jump in fully. And then also like I find it
interesting the way that these like this era of fascists

(07:52):
in Brazil particularly were targeting unions, but as almost as
a way just to target like immigrants, Like it was
like the easiest way for them to actually just do
anti immigrant violence was like through the unions.

Speaker 2 (08:06):
Yeah, anti immigrant violence is almost always anti worker violence
as well.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, no, No, in the States at least right now,
we're just like seeing another kind of uptick in like
anti immigrant rhetoric and violence, and yeah, a lot of
it is tied to like labor, like how immigrants are
taking jobs away from the lower classes, that sort of thing.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
Huh. As always you remember that, you know it could
happen here, and it's important to be constantly aware and
on God against even the ghost, the shadow of fascism
creeping up in their communities. It's easy to be treated
by the media or by others as just oh, you're

(08:51):
making a big deal about ohover exaggerates into threat. But
you know, these things sinuwable are very quickly. They need
to be nip in the bud. And it's largely thanks
to anti fascists on the front lines that the situation
is not as bad as it could be right now,
even though it is getting worse every day. For the

(09:22):
already weakened anarchists and labor movements in Brazil, integralism had
posed a dire threat. They were already splintered and in decline,
struggling to maintain influence. An Integralism's rapid rise with its
militarized structure and anti leftist violence fully suppressed their hopes.
The communists weren't exactly a help either. The anarchists lost

(09:44):
a significant strongholder their struggle on the premises of the
Anti Clerical League in Rio de Janeiro when communists sent
to disrupt their meeting called the police on them, leading
to the arrest of eight anarchists and the closure of
the Anti Clerical League center and its newspaper. With the
help of the Integralists, communists and leaders of Cardinal Sebastio

(10:06):
Lemes Brazilian Catholic Party, Getulio Vargas faced little resistance in
establishing Hisestado Novo dictatorship. His authoritarian regime lasted from nineteen
thirty seven to nineteen forty five and was marked by
continuous crackdowns on labor, autonomy and anarchism. But despite the
common claims the nineteen thir eties marked the end of

(10:26):
anarchism in Brazil, anarchists remained active in unions and cultural spaces.
Despite repression. Anarchists published influential periodicals like A playbe and
a Childreta, and aimed to create a national anarchist political organization.
Post nineteen forty five, in the era of re deemocratization,
anarchists converged in South Pawerlo for Brazilian Anarchist congresses in

(10:50):
nineteen forty eight and nineteen fifty nine, which brought together
veterans and motivated the re establishment of social centers. The
anarchists resumed educational and cultural activities that I found in
the Centro des Cultura Socil the CCS, which became a
hub for anarchist intellectual life, hosting lectures, conferences, literary events,
and even theater performances. The anarchists were back. The CCS

(11:14):
had played a key role in building anarchist networks, even
hosted anarchist exiles from Spain, and helped to establish similar
cultural centers in the suburbs of sarth Paolo and other
cities across Brazil. In Rio de Janeiro, a similar space
emerged in nineteen fifty eight, the Centrol des Studios put
Fessor Jose Hitka or SEPTCHO. Like the CCS, de Septcho

(11:35):
hosted courses, lectures, and debates. In nineteen sixty one, it
helps establish an anarchist publishing house called Mundo Libre in
suth Paolo. Union activity surged with three hundred thousand workers
striking in nineteen fifty three and another four hundred thousand
in nineteen fifty seven. This period of intense mobilization providing

(11:57):
an opportunity for anarchists and independent socialists to come together
and form the Syndicalus Orientation Movement or MOS. Created in
nineteen fifty three, MS aimed to fight for the autonomy
and freedom of workers unions resistant state and corporate control.
By nineteen fifty seven, they had enough momentum to contest
union leadership positions, especially within the graphics sector. Despite these strides, however,

(12:21):
the anarchists movement faced considerable challenges. The re democratization after
nineteen forty five offered some room for growth, but the
labor landscape was dominated by corporatist forces the Communist Party
and the Brazilian Labor Party. Anarchists found themselves battling for
influence in a crowded political field. Their efforts to revitalize

(12:42):
the movement were furtheres stifled by a lack of resources
and militants, which limited their presence and social movements. The
momentum gained the nineteen fifties came to a crash in halt.
With the military coup of nineteen sixty four, once again
Brazil entered a period of authoritarian rule, placing anarchist activists
in a precarious position. In May nineteen sixty four, anarchists

(13:06):
from Rio de Janeiro and South Paolo organized a secret
meeting to strategize, focused on safeguarding anarchist resources. Many went underground,
facing renewed repression and uncertainty about the future of their movement.
They shifted focused to education and cultural spaces to survive,
with initiatives like the newspaper or Protesto and the publishing

(13:27):
house Hilminal. Anarchists, including young students new to the cause,
formed the libertarian student movement the MEL in nineteen sixty seven,
with the intention of fixing a position and fighting back,
as well as having an active presence in class and
ideological struggles, marking our directions more in according to the
federalist principles which had governed the life of every class organization.

(13:50):
But after one student, Edson Louise, was murdered by the
military police, the MEL and other student initiatives faced heavy
persecution after the nineteen sixty eight Institutional Acts Number five,
with the AI five, which suspended most civil rights, included
habeas corpus, allowed for the removal from office of opposition politicians,

(14:11):
enabled federal interventions municipalities and states, and enabled the institutionalization
of arbitrary detention, torture, and extra judicial killing by the regime.
This military dictatorship that grouped Brazil from nineteen sixty four
to nineteen eighty five forced anarchist movements into survival mood.
In Rio de Janeiro, the Centro de Studo's professor Jose Equitica,

(14:32):
operated secretly, while in South Paulo the Centro des Cultural
Sociel kept the flame of anarchistor alive through underground propaganda
and secret meetings. These centers were vital in maintaining connections
with international anarchist movements, insurance the ideology persisted despite the
harsh political climate. You see the importance of international solarity

(14:57):
for in its head yet again, and you see also
the importance of having cultural centers, social centers, community centers
where they movements contraw strength even when it's not directly
engaged in labor organizing, what direct political struggle, Just that
rejuvenation of community is enough to maintain the survival of

(15:17):
that ideological struggle, even all hope seems lost.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
No, I mean this is something like you see a
lot especially after or during like a movement that's faced
incredible repression. Is that kind of it goes back to
kind of its earlier forms, at least in terms of
like like the like the social aspects. In some ways,
it feels like it's kind of regressing back to kind
of where it like started back in the last episode
with some of those like same like you know, like

(15:41):
like underground newspapers all this. Like this is like a
cultural engagements, as you said, kind of like a way
to like keep the light alive during like an intense,
like military style effort of repression.

Speaker 2 (15:55):
Yeah, it's really quite necessary. Unfortunately, in nineteen sixty nine,
the headquarters of Sepjol was raided by Air Force agents.

(16:15):
The invasion resulted in the arrest and prosecution of eighteen members,
including the anarchist Adiel Perez, who endured a month of
imprisonment and torture. So between nineteen seventy two nineteen seventy seven,
anarchists were forced into even greater degrees of secrecy, meeting
in very small titling. It groups In terms of organizational strength,

(16:37):
this might have been the lowest point for anarchism in Brazil,
but things began to shift in nineteen seventy seven as
a dictatorship started to lose its grip. That year, the
anarchist periodical or Animigouret or The King's Enemy, was launched
in Biheir, marking a significant moment for the movement. This

(16:57):
newspaper brought together student and union terns from various parts
of the country, but here Rioligiro, sal Paolo, Prio, grand Rasoul,
Paraiba and Para Despite internal conflicts and ideological differences, the
paper played a crucial role in reorganizing the anarchist movement,
either the influence of the counterculture or Inimiguorey tackled issues

(17:19):
like revolutionary unionism, anarchist syndicalism, the student movement, gender sexuality,
and political theory. The paper ran until nineteen eighty two,
and after hiatus resumed briefly between nineteen eighty seven and
nineteen eighty eight. During the same period there was the
first sign of notable anarchist engagement with the labor movement
in years, following a wave of strikes involving more than

(17:42):
forty eight thousand workers anarchists began questioning the bureaucratic union
structures in South Paolo to collect TiVo Debritario de Opposichao
Syndical or COLLOPS was formed, closely aligned with the ideas
of the Metalworkers Opposition movement. COLLAPSE was officially established during
the first National Meeting of Workers in Opposition to the

(18:03):
Trade Union Structure or ENDOS, held in September nineteen eighty
in Nitroi. This meeting brought together in union opposition from
sixteen states across Brazil, further spark in the revival of
anarchist involvement in the labor movement. But one of the
most significant developments to come out of this period was
the rise of the Movementento dos Trabahaldoes Urai Semterre the

(18:26):
Landless Workers Movement or MST, Emerging nineteen eighty four just
before the end of the military regime. The MST became
a mass movement with distinctly anarchist communist characteristics. It adopted
a decentralized, non hierarchical structure the prioritized autonomous direct action
principles deeply aligned with anarchism. However, the MST has resisted

(18:50):
being identified as explicitly anarchist, avoiding the label to maintain
broader support and avoid the stigma attached to anarchist movements
over time, what maintained in its independence, The MST has
built alliances with the furious political parties, including the Workers' Party.
We should go on to form the government in two
thousand and two. But the nineteen eighties, Brazilian anarchism began

(19:12):
reflecting the broader new social movements that had emerged globally
after the nineteen sixties. Ecology, feminism, and new discourses on
sexuality were now key components of anarchists thought. The nineteen
eighties saw the rise of pro homosexual actists like Nestor
Perenguer and Argentinian born intellectual who became a central figure
in Brazilian anarchism.

Speaker 3 (19:33):
You know, some have considered me a pro homosexual, Okay,
but but no mean this is a continued It is
interesting to see this like starting with student movements and
then getting back into kind of labor over time after
they like rebuilt their movement through students, and then continuing

(19:58):
to like adopt more and more like modern social views
and like cultural engagement have an image here of one
of their newspapers that has built what looks like two
men having sex right on the cover. That's like the seventies,
which is which is quite.

Speaker 2 (20:12):
Something incredible, must have been very scandalous at the time.

Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (20:17):
So with the nineteen nineties, as Brazil transitioned to the
New Republic and embraced new liberalism, anarchists became key players
in shaping a wave of social movements. They actively helped
to create and integrate into these movements, advocating their principles
and strategies. One prominent example was Brazil's involvement in the

(20:37):
global anti globalization movement, inspired by protests like the Seattle
WTOO demonstrations in nineteen ninety nine YEP. In Brazil, this
movement began in Santos on the same date, led by anarchists,
ecologists and liberterians. By two thousand, a coalition of these
groups emerged, particularly in South Peru, and continued to organize

(20:57):
in actions against the liberal policies until two thousand and three.
The protest targeted institutions like the IMF, the World Bank,
and the WTO, and introduced the black block tactic to Brazil.
Anakis also helped establish Brazil's Center for Independent Media CMI,
part of the global Indie Media network which aimed to
challenge me instream media dominance. Active between two thousand and

(21:20):
one and two thousand and five, CMI was a key
platform for independent journalism across fourteen Brazilian cities. Beyond protests,
anarchids were involved in broader social movements, contributing to housing
struggles in South Power and Real Desionero, as well as
supporting feminists, indigenous, Black and LGBT causes. They played significant

(21:41):
roles in movements like the National Movement of Collectors of
recycla Level Material MNCR, the previously mentioned Landless Workers Movement
or MSD, and the Homeless Workers Movement the MTSD, reflecting
their deep involvement in Brazil's diverse social landscape. In the
early two thousands, Anikis Popular Union the UNIPA helped form

(22:02):
networks such as the Class and Combative Student Network or
the RCC and the Federation of Revolutionary Synicalist Organizations of
Brazil or the f WOB. Further cement and anarchism's influence
in students and workers' struggles. Despite being considered part of
a broader leftist current. Anarchists specifically made a lasting impact
on Brazil's social movement during this period. Today, Brazilian anarchism

(22:26):
continues to evolve, shaped by the principles of spacifismo, a
strategy where anarchists work alongside broader social movements or maintaining
their own distinct ideology. Many anarchist federations have found common
cause with groups like the MST, supporting their struggles while
promoting their own vision of a stateless, non hierarchical society.
The story of anarchism in Brazil is one of endurance, adaptability,

(22:49):
and reinvention. Despite decades of repression, the movement has continued
to shape Brazil's political landscape, from underground propaganda dune dictatorship
to the mass mobilization of land less workers and intellectuals.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
Alike, similar to what they were doing ninety years ago.
We've also seen like a resurgence of anarchist anti fascism
in Brazil. Indeed, around the same time we kind of
saw this rise in the United States as well as
in Europe. With the emergence of these like right wing
populist politicians between like Trump and Bolsonario, you've been seeing

(23:22):
more of like the black block style anarchism in Brazil,
which often kind of in this era went hand in
hand with like anti fascist action in organizing.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Indeed, so that's been the story, very summarized account like
I would recommend that you check out. Of course, the
scholarship of the folks I mentioned the beginning, the resources
all across the Internet, particularly the Anarchists Library discussing Brazilian anarchism.
This has been It can happen here. I've been Andrew Siege.

(23:54):
You can find me on YouTube dot com, slash andrewism
peatre dot com, stas Saint Drew. I've been here with
gay and that's it Peace.

Speaker 1 (24:08):
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