Border area as violence domination: Southern Mato Grosso reports (1932)

Abstract

The current article raises the violence as the main issue presented by memorialists in Mato Grosso’s border, in period of colonization after Paraguay war (1864-1870). Among all authors analyzed, Umbert Puiggari, a journalist rooted in Mato Grosso’s border in the 1930s, was the researcher who gave more importance to the problem. Unlike others, he did not see any possibility of changes in the border even after the new regime implementation installed with 1930 revolution. Because he did not believe that institutions could not change the historical scenarios, he did not realize any role that the new government policy could change the economic and the cultural structures, in overrunning the violence situation which was narrated with so much strength and indignation. For that reason, he summarized an open exposition of the border problems, generated by the violence of powerful people, by the banditism and by the state abandon. Therefore, Puiggari’s work is highlighted by its denounces and it is translated by the author’s exclusive objective and conscience.