“Em auxílio dos seus”: Mutualismo espanhol numa cidade Amazônica (Belém-Pará, 1890 – 1920)

Abstract

At the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, the city of Belém underwent intense changes promoted by the rubber economy, the product of greatest export in the period. In this context, the city of Belém experiences the arrival of a significant number of national and international migrants moved by the opportunity of enrich with the opportunity that this land provided and propagandized. The Spaniards are the second largest group of foreign immigrants to the city of Belém. Most of them emigrated from Galicia, settling in the urban context and creating networks of sociability and solidarity through associations. The research object is the mutual aid associations for Spanish immigrants. The problem is to understand how the survival strategies of the Spaniards who arrived in the Amazon in the beginning of the 20th century are activated through the mutual aid associations in Belém, particularly the Union Española de Socorros Mútuos and the Centro Galaico del Pará. Ethnic mutualists of emigrants are configured as a true symbolic landmark of territoriality. Through a collection of different sources it was possible to understand the dynamics of its operation. In this sense, the memory of immigrants in relation to their homeland is preserved and the ties maintained with it are present throughout the existence of Spanish associative centers as a form of expression and belonging, these being platforms for political and social dialogue.