O papel da Ações Cívico-Sociais na Guerrilha do Araguaia (1972-1974)

Abstract

This research has as its main objective to analyze how the Ações Cívico-Sociais (ACISO) influenced the Araguaia Guerrilla (1972–1974), and as specific objectives, to locate the areas where these operations were carried out during the guerrilla war and to identify how the Ações Cívico-Sociais (ACISO) appeared in the region. The ACISO were programs created during the period of the Civil-Military Dictatorship in Brazil, aimed at assisting impoverished populations in the countryside through medical aid, such as the establishment of hospitals and vaccination campaigns, road construction, support in land demarcation, and also through the delivery of educational lectures to the population. As historical sources, reports produced by the Armed Forces during the Araguaia Guerrilla were used, obtained through the National Archives. Documents from the Partido Comunista do Brasil (PCdoB) related to the conflict were also analyzed, such as “Guerra Popular: O caminho da luta armada no Brasil”, “Relatório Arroyo”, and “Diário de velho Mauro”. In addition, interviews with peasants who lived in the region during the conflict, collected through other historiographical works, were utilized. Based on these documents and on works written on the subject, it is understood that the ACISO, while assisting the population, also sought to isolate and gather information about the guerrillas. It is also understood that the Ações Cívico-Sociais (ACISO) interfered in the conflict, not through aid itself, but by obtaining information about the region and its inhabitants, supporters of the guerrilla, thus facilitating the massacre carried out by the Army months after the conclusion of the operation.