Paulo Maranhão x Magalhães Barata: censuras, intervenções e políticas no Pará durante a Era Vargas (1930-1945)

Abstract

This dissertation aims to analyze the political clash between journalist Paulo Maranhão (1872-1966) and military officer Magalhães Barata (1888-1959) between 1930 and 1945, the period known as the Vargas Era. The main objective was to analyze the various mechanisms used by the two individuals to obtain, recover and maintain power in various areas of Pará society. Paulo Maranhão used the tools of journalism to attack Magalhães Barata, who had twice served as Pará’s federal interventor. In turn, Magalhães Barata relied on the state apparatus to defend himself and attack one of his main opponents, contributing to a dynamic of political disputes between the two that lasted almost 30 years. The research was divided into three phases: the initial phase referring to Magalhães Barata’s first stint in power (1930-1935); the second phase referring to the period in which the military politician was away from Pará (1936-1942); and finally, the third phase directed at Magalhães Barata’s return for his second term (1943-1945). Using contributions linked to the New Political History and its reformulations of various objects of analysis, including the media, I found that Paulo Maranhão used the newspaper Northern Leaf for his political agendas and disagreements, including the one against Magalhães Barata. In this way, the political nature of printed media and their power to intervene in the social dynamics of the period became a reality. As a result of the means used by both, it was possible to see episodes of violence, censorship, journalistic articles aimed at political attacks, among many other events, presented and analyzed during the three chapters of this dissertation. Based on a qualitative analysis of the sources, it was possible to work with some documentary poles for the construction of the research. I checked the documents in the Public Archives of the State of Pará (APEP), which refer to the relationships played out by members of the public authorities, be it Magalhães Barata himself or state departments. Another important collection of documents is in the Arthur Vianna Public Library, referring to the periodicals in the proposed section, such as of State of Pará and the Official State Diary, but mainly copies of the periodical Nothern Leaf, a newspaper run by Paulo Maranhão. Other sets of documents were used to a lesser extent, such as books published at the time which are in the rare works sector of the Arthur Vianna Public Library, newspapers available in the National Library’s Digital Hemeroteca, among other documents used during the work.