History and daily violence from an “armed people”

Abstract

UUntil the middle of the twentieth century, the history of the mato-grossense region was literally a history of an armed people. Since the arrival of the explorers from São Paulo, the violence relations have been established face to the hostile natural environment, to native people and to border struggles. In the 20th century, the region was disturbed with excessive and violent native feelings. After that, the southern part was involved in a massive conflict with Paraguay. In inheriting these strong roots, arisen from facing violence in the first decades of the 20th century, the region was characterized by the power of political chiefs and bandits.