Brazil's crucial archives could perish, leaving questions unanswered
By Helena de Moura, CNN
June 28, 2010 -- Updated 0215 GMT (1015 HKT)
(CNN) -- One of South America's largest historical archives -- 35 million pages that chronicle widespread killing, forced disappearances and torture committed by Brazilian military rulers from 1964 to 1985 -- is rotting away in an obscure government building in Brazil's capital.
Carlos Fico, a leading historian of the so-called "lead years" in Brazil, confirmed accounts first reported in the Brazilian newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo about deteriorating conditions at the Brazilian national archives building.
Fico -- who has led an academic commission to study classified documents relating to that era -- said Brazil's government suddenly made a large amount of classified documents available to the public. That resulted in an avalanche of military documents that have now been jammed into every corner of the government archives building, including bathrooms.
As court orders continue to force military jurisdictions throughout Brazil to send in their documents, the building cannot handle the load, Fico told CNN. And, left unattended, the papers are rotting.
"I have been to the building in Brasilia and I can tell you that it was not made for archiving documents," he said. "There are some serious implications in terms of fire threats and the amount of history being stored there in the last eight years."
A press official with Brazil's government said Sunday that President Luiz Lula Inacio da Silva has not responded to the Folha de Sao Paulo report.
Eight years ago, victims' rights groups and academics successfully sued for access to classified documents from the years of military rule in Brazil, a period known for covert military operations against civilians who were deemed subversive to the right-wing military. Many suspects who ran afoul of the military rulers often were punished with torture and many people disappeared.
Artists, journalists and students and members of South America's intelligentsia were often implicated. So were activists and church members. Thousands went "missing" in Brazil and neighboring nations also ruled by military leaders, human rights observers and journalists claim.
The Brazilian archive, growing but perishing rapidly as victims' group seek greater access to information, contains details ranging from Brazil's role in the overthrow of the government of Chilean leader Salvador Allende in 1973, to dealings between the United States government and the Brazilian junta, to the vast spying network on artists and the media, Fico said.
"We already know a lot about U.S. involvement, but the most important part of these documents is regarding the ... repressive activities conducted by the Brazilian military as it collaborated with neighboring countries," said Fico.
The Brazilian archives shed light on the role of Brazil's leadership in collaborating with neighboring military rulers who, according to human rights observers, committed serious human rights abuses against innocent civilians.
"The preservation of these documents is important to our history and is crucial to victims' families who are seeking the truth and some form indemnity for their missing loved ones," said Fico.
LIVRO DE CARLOS FICO
Esta obra traz à tona a real participação dos Estados Unidos durante a ditadura militar no Brasil. Carlos Fico aponta o general brasileiro que era o contato entre o então futuro presidente Castelo Branco e o governo de Washington para a entrega de armas, munições e combustível durante o golpe de 64. O grande irmão relata episódios sombrios, lances de suborno e traz revelações chocantes como a instalação de equipamento de detecção de explosões nucleares, sem o conhecimento do governo brasileiro, em base militar operada pelos EUA secretamente no Brasil.
Editora: Record
ISBN: 9788520008430
Ano: 2008
Edição: 1
Número de páginas: 336
Um comentário:
Profª. Shirley,
Acho que há interesse de muita gente em deixar que os arquivos do Regime Militar apodreçam. Os interessados nisso estão presentes dos dois lados da questão - os antigos repressores e os antigos guerrilheiros.
Comumente acha-se que os guerrilheiros que enfrentaram o governo militar eram bravos paladinos da justiça, da liberdade e da democracia. Falso. Muitos desses pretensos heróis se valeram de meios pérfidos (assalto, sequestro, tortura e assassinato) para lutar contra o Regime Militar objetivando a instauração de uma ditadura comunista no País, e não sua redemocratização.
Acho que ainda temos uma visão muito maniqueísta sobre a Ditadura Militar brasileira. Naquela época, o povo foi vítima tanto de um governo opressor quanto de atos terroristas covardes. Glorificar um lado e demonizar o outro é bandear para uma simplificação grosseira da realidade que vivemos entre 1964 e 1985.
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