A debate on the performance of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) in the countryside between 1948 and 1964

A debate on the performance of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) in the countryside between the years 1948 and 1964

Abstract

This work presents partial results of a master's research on the performance of communists and the newspaper “Terra Livre” with the peasants between the years of 1948 and 1964. With the entry of the PCB in hiding in 1947, under the government of President Eurico Gaspar Dutra, the party started to privilege armed actions as a way of conquering power. In this sense, the use of historical documents on the performance of communists in the field, such as the January 1948 Manifesto and the August 1950 Manifesto written by party secretary Luiz Carlos Prestes are important sources for understanding the behavior adopted by the party in the middle rural. The newspaper acted intensely from 1954, when it supported the struggle for Agrarian Reform and the unionization of peasants, without neglecting the squatters' struggles against the expulsion they were subjected to. In this perspective, the articles in the newspaper copies are documents that make it possible to highlight that the objective of the Pecebist leadership was to encourage farmers to fight for social rights that were disrespected as minimum wage and 13th salary. As of the 1958 declaration, the debate was directed towards guaranteeing such benefits previously highlighted, with the communists abandoning the prospect of revolution in the countryside. The headlines of the periodical are complementary documents that allow to understand the role of the press in divulging the strategies of action field by the party leaders.