Communist Party of Brazil - The Araguaia Guerrilla (1969-1976)

The Araguaia Guerrilla (1969-1976)

Since 1966, PCdoB sought the formation of a nucleus at the guerrilla camp. The area chosen for the irradiation of the future peasant army (along the lines Maoist) was the region south of Para, near the border with Tocantins. It is estimated that the party met 70-80 guerrillas in the area under the military command of former military Osvaldo Orlando da Costa (Osvaldão) and under the command of Mauritius maximum Grabois (then commander in chief of the guerrillas).

The most effective guerrilla PCdoB column (under the name "Araguaia Guerrilla Force") was composed of high school students or college students, organized around the Patriotic Union of Youth (UJP, youth wing of the party), professional and workers mainly from São Paulo and Minas Gerais. As there was little adhesion between locals, the party created the Freedom Union and the People's Rights (ULDP), whose manifesto contained the programmatic basis of the guerrillas.

In 1971, Army units discovered the location of guerrilla nucleus and were deployed to cordon off the area, preventing it from spreading its operations to the north of the Amazon. The repression of guerrilla operations began in 1972 with three military expeditions that mobilized 25,000 soldiers. Being repelled the first two, the third expedition defeated the last pockets of resistance. Most of the guerillas died in clash with Army forces, including Osvaldão Grabois and Maurice, who died in confrontation with the Army on December 25, 1973. In the 3rd campaign of annihilation, there was a dirty war, including torture of civilians, execution and beheading of prisoners and bodies of fighters hiding until the present day.

The defeat of the Araguaia committed to the party organization, but established the myth of the guerrillas known as the most effective experience of armed struggle the dictatorship. Most of the dead in the repression of the military regime between 1964 and 1979 was PCdoB militants. The Araguaia Guerrilla redefined the dictatorship's plans for the Amazon region and its repression is systematically hidden until now.