Medidas memoriais e usos políticos da ditadura civil-militar brasileira na era FHC (1995-2002)

Abstract

The present text investigates the political uses of the Brazilian civil-military dictatorship under Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s presidency (1995-2002), analyzing the memorial measures undertaken by his government (such as the Law of the Disappeared, the first implemented during the New Republic), and the signing of the Decree 4.553, which reinforces secrecy of State documents. Also analyzed are the official mentions of the military regime in his presidential speeches, mainly on occasions of commemorative celebrations or of the launching related policies. The research comes from the understanding that these, as well as the presidential speeches, represent a state effort to stabilize the battles of memory through the institutionalization of a unique narrative about the past. This survey points out that FHC, although presenting relatively progressive management of the dictatorial past for the Latin American context of the time, maintains the conciliatory pact that shaped the political transition in the late 1980s and instrumentalizes the memory of authoritarianism favoring his liberal economic project.