Breaking the ‘Silence’ of the Military Regime: New Politics of Memory in Brazil

Abstract

This article elucidates the latest developments in the 'politics of memory' regarding the military regime in Brazil. Only recently, I argue, has the Brazilian state abandoned its 'politics of silence' and started to actively champion the memory of the left-wing 'resistance'. This new strategy climaxed in a governmental crisis over a historic plan to establish a National Truth Commission to investigate human rights violations during the military regime. The article analyses key incidents and debates prior to the crisis, and contrasts the post-dictatorial collective memory of Brazil with that of other Latin American countries.

On the Ruins of the Democratic Transition: Human Rights as an Agenda Item in Abeyance for the Brazilian Democracy

“…In practice, it nourished the military segments as important political actors in the national conjuncture and it also set a precedents in terms of human rights violations that, from time to time, appear in different political questions – for example, impunity in relation to victims of conflict in the countryside involving social movements, indigenous people and farmers. Despite the innumerable advances in terms of the fight against social inequality, especially those of the last decade, it is impossible to conceal that a political culture still predominates in the country, which suffers as a result of the legacy of the National Security Doctrine (NSD) and the terror occasioned by military forces during the period of the dictatorship, reverberating also in the continuation of violent political practices, especially those against the poorest sectors of Brazilian society (Huggins, ; Pereira, ; Padrós, ; Schneider, ).…”

On demons and dreamers: Violence, silence and the politics of impunity in the Brazilian Truth Commission

“…In 1979, the regime passed an amnesty law that appropriated and twisted the demands of the memorial struggle in favour of an amnesic position. The military’s take on state pardon allowed exiles to return, but had a significant catch: the law excluded the ‘crimes’ of ‘terrorism’ from its amnesty while fully exonerating the crimes of state terrorists (Huggins, 2000; Schneider, 2011). In the following decades, the 1979 amnesty redefined the trajectory of memorial-humanitarian struggles in many ways.…”

“…Truth-seeking was defended as the ‘ contrary of forgetfulness ’ (Rousseff, 2012) and as a necessary step to break with decades of a ‘“sinister silence” protecting perpetrators and the crimes of state terror’ (Pinheiro, 2013). The CNV itself was praised as a golden, albeit ‘belated’, opportunity to promote atonement in Brazil (Schneider, 2011, 2014; Sikkink and Marchesi, 2015) and to reinforce the global fight against impunity (United Nations, 2014). Breaking the silence , denouncing violence and fighting impunity composed the central vision of justice promised by the CNV.…”

From absent to present pasts: civil society, democracy and the shifting place of memory in Brazil

“…As a result, the 'reciprocal' Amnesty Law was broadly accepted despite quite minimal concessions from the government. Schneider adds that dominant civil society groups rejected a more confrontational approach in favour of a general amnesty that would 'reconcile the Brazilian family' (Schneider 2010;.…”