The military dictatorship, capitalist expansion and social struggles in southeastern Pará

Abstract

The governments of the Military Dictatorship (1964-1985) did not promote changes only atthe level of politics. That period also symbolized the opening of the Amazon to internationalcapital and brought new structures to southeast Pará, close to the so-called Parrot’s Beak, aregion that came to be known as the stage for the struggle of the Araguaia Guerrilla group. Inthe wake of the massacre of the guerrillas there was a wave of repression against social movementsthat had spread across the region in the struggle for land, aggravated by the influxof rural workers from the northeast. In this article we call attention to the modifications thatoccurred in the economic structure of southeast Pará, which, promoted by the policies of themilitary government, opened up the frontier to exploitation by international capital.