Os castanhais do sudeste do Pará: cotidianos e discursos (1930-1964)

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to show that political factors were fundamental in the formation of the economic structure of Brazil Nut Zones in southeastern Pará, and that their development was marked by the ideologies and the political engagement of three leaders, namely Deodoro Machado de Mendonça, Joaquim de Magalhães Cardoso Barata and Nagib Mutran. With them, the Brazil Nut Zones in southeastern Pará were regulated, and the main period of political partisan intervention was registered between 1930 and 1964. We highlight, initially, the regulations employed in 1930, by the Intervenor of Pará Magalhães Barata, whose attitude contradicted the claims of the of previous Governments, representing the traditional landowner elite, especially Deodoro de Mendonça. At that moment, were born the political disputes that determined the dynamics of the Brazil Nut production in the region, characterized by baratism and antibaratism. This rivalry at state level was transferred to the Brazil Nut Zones of southeastern Pará by the local leader, Nagib Mutran. Thus, the political dispute over the Brazil Nut Zones remained until 1951, when Barata was defeated in the elections for governor of Pará. Since then, the federal projects for the economic valorization of the Amazon region, initiated in 1952, accelerated the appropriations of lands in the southeastern part of the state, which led to the weakening of the extractive economy and the economic collapse of the region's Brazil Nut Zones in the early 1960s. However, the Brazil Nut Zones in southeastern Pará were not confined to discourses and economic projects. Parallel to them, inside the production zones, there were the local Brasil Nut gatherers with their daily actions, peculiar to the environment of the forest. Because the Brazil nut economy is a seasonal activity, these inhabitants of the zones have become accustomed to other activities that, in turn, made part of the daily life in the forest. The inhabitants of the Brazil Nut Zones were not only gatherers, they were also farmers, hunters, fishermen and devotees. These activities, because they were all important and routine, directed the inhabitants of the Brazil Nut Zones to regulate their daily actions with a certain autonomy, not always in accordance with the political decisions.