A formação da ARENA e do MDB paraenses: cultura política e Ditadura Militar na Amazônia (1964 – 1970)

Abstract

The objective of this master’s thesis is to understand – based on party political trajectories – how the political frameworks of the National Renewal Alliance (ARENA) and the Brazilian Democratic Movement (MDB) were formed and constituted in Pará. Two axes guide the analysis of this trajectory: the concept of political culture used by historian Rodrigo Motta and the discourse on the locus where this political action takes place, the Amazon. The time frame of the research begins with the collapse of the democratic government in 1964, still in a multi-party environment, and ceases with the effects of Institutional Act Number 5 (AI-5), the moment in which the closure of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Pará (ALEPA) was decreed. A wide range of written and oral documentary sources were used, particularly the Annals of the Legislative Assembly, the Arthur Viana Public Library newspapers, and information from the National Information Service now retained in the National Archives. As conclusions of this work, the continuity in political arrangements before and after the military coup is highlighted, even on the part of militaries who were theoretically newcomers to politics. The role of the political class in building social consensus around Military Governments stands out. And, finally, the hypothesis of the discourse on the Amazon as a mechanism of understanding negotiations and political accommodations within the state is presented.