Biography (excerpt) | Brazil | Brazilian Portuguese
September, 2019Marighella: O guerrilheiro que incendiou o mundo is a biography of one of the most controversial and divisive figures in 20th-century Brazil. A communist activist from a young age, an elected state representative, and the founder of the largest armed organization opposing the ruling military dictatorship, this mixed-race poet raised in poverty in Salvador, Bahia would be declared public enemy number one by the country's political police.
The incident described in the excerpt featured here, Margihella's arrest in a Tijuca movie theater roughly one month after the military seized power in 1964, dominated the nation's headlines, shocking the general public for the details of wanton violence and repression. It would turn out to be a mere inkling of the grim future awaiting Brazil under military rule.
Brazil is a nation that has failed to adequately come to terms with this chapter in its history, having opted for sweeping amnesty rather than prosecuting those responsible for human rights violations. The lack of condemnation or a clear resolution has led, in the wake of recent corruption charges against elected officials, to a mood of dangerous nostalgia among many Brazilians currently disillusioned by the failures of democracy. This dangerous nostalgia is partially responsible for the outcome of last year's presidential election, when Brazilian voters chose a far-right candidate who favors torture as a law-enforcement tactic, praises the dictatorship's strong men for their brutal effectiveness, and calls for a return to the good old days when might was right, protest was outlawed, dissidents were exiled and executed, and elections were non-existent.
Written by veteran journalist Mário Magalhães (currently of The Intercept Brasil), Marighella: O guerrilheiro que incendiou o mundo is equal parts historical nonfiction and political thriller, meticulously researched and rich in context, surveying the country's social and political evolution from the World War I era through to the late 1960s. Published in Portuguese by Companhia das Letras in 2012 and winner of the Prêmio Jabuti for biography, the book served as the basis for Wagner Moura's biopic Marighella, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in February of this year.
- Matthew Rinaldi
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