Episode of mass murder that took place Ipatinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil in 1963
The Ipatinga massacre was an episode of aggression and mass murder that took place in Ipatinga, a Brazilian city that was until then a village belonging to Coronel Fabriciano, in the interior of the state of Minas Gerais, on October 7, 1963. The event consisted of a clash between military officers, then under orders from Governor of Minas Gerais José de Magalhães Pinto, and "Usiminas" employees, who were outraged at the poor working conditions and the humiliation they suffered when they were searched before entering and leaving the company for their workday.
The night before the day of the massacre, workers leaving the night shift were subjected to a heavy search, in which milk and food could not be taken home. The Military Police had recently discovered plans for resistance and union meetings in the village, which were resisted. Outraged by the facts, workers clashed with the Police Cavalry after trying to break up a gathering in the "Santa Monica" lodge (now the "Horto" neighborhood) and only with the intermediation of Avelino Marques, priest of the Church of Our Lady of Hope, was it decided that at dawn there would be a meeting between "Usiminas" management and representatives of the police, the local union and the workers.
On the morning of the 7th, about six thousand workers on strike in front of the "Usiminas" gate awaited the end of a meeting, in which it was decided that the police cavalry would be suspended during the investigations into the aggressions of the previous day. At the same time, armed soldiers insisted on remaining at the site and intimidated the rioters, who began to rebuke them with stones and curses. Just as Father Avelino and Geraldo Ribeiro, president of the union, were getting into a car to address the crowd, nineteen policemen on top of a truck started shooting at the workers, officially resulting in eight dead (including a child on his mother's lap) and 79 wounded. Such numbers, however, are contested.
In the following months, there were salary increases, the replacement of the vigilante staff, and the conviction of the soldiers involved in aggression and the massacre. The 1964 Brazilian coup d'état, however, removed then-president João Goulart, initiating the military dictatorship. This culminated in the imprisonment of local trade unionists and labor movement leaders and the acquittal of the police officers involved. Only in 2004 were compensation paid to the families of the victims and in 2013, with the establishment of the National Truth Commission (CNV), the case was investigated again.
History.
Context.
"Usiminas", a steel mill company installed in the then village of Ipatinga, belonging to the municipality of Coronel Fabriciano, in 1956, brought to the locality, besides the negotiation of land in large quantities, basic infrastructure goods such as health establishments, leisure areas, transportation and communication. Its installation was the result of investments by Japanese businessmen and contributed to the formation of the current "Vale do Aço" Metropolitan Region, one of the main industrial centers in the state. In the years following its arrival, the company also built entire neighborhoods to serve as shelter for the residents, who were distributed according to the hierarchy of the company; the "Castelo" neighborhood, for example, was intended for the presidency, while the "Cariru" neighborhood housed the non-technical employees. In general, the more distant neighborhoods were inhabited by lower class workers.
However, the investments of the State, responsible for 55% of the company's capital – other 5% belonged to national entrepreneurs and 40% to Japanese -, were restricted to the surroundings of the company and took little account of the city of Coronel Fabriciano as a whole, whose administration had exempted "Usiminas" from taxes. While the population of the entire region was growing due to the industrial activity, also influenced by "Aperam" South America (located in Timóteo, another village of Coronel Fabriciano), education in the city was precarious, with high dropout rates and illiteracy (over 50%) by the end of the 1950s. In addition, the infrastructure made available by the company was insufficient to meet the demand of workers from the region or who came from different areas of Brazil looking for work, as well as those who were not employed in the industry. In Ipatinga, the lodgings became few and the violence indexes were high.
Motivations.
"Usiminas" started its operations on October 26, 1962, with about fifteen thousand employees, eight thousand of whom were direct workers and the remaining seven thousand were employed by contractors. The adaptation to the work was difficult, since there were few employees trained to deal with exhausting tasks, close to toxic gases and temperatures that reached 1,700 °C (steel melting temperature), making work accidents common. Besides the precarious transportation, food was also made difficult by the long lines for meals. The restaurants were hierarchical, with distinctions between engineers and workers, the latter forced to face disorganized lines that would start riots at any moment. Relations among the workers were not good either, given the conditions they found themselves in, the cultural differences, and the distance from their families. Outside the company, leisure options were scarce, restricted mainly to small bars.
The president of "Usiminas" at the time, Amaro Lanari Júnior, notes that "cases of madness began to occur in Ipatinga", as a result of this set of factors. The constant cases of indiscipline led "Usiminas" to implement control measures with the help of the police, who would begin to interfere in a strict manner even outside the company. Thefts began to occur inside the plant, which encouraged rigorous checks on the workers as they left the work area. The association of social and professional problems and the intransigent interference of the police forces led to dissatisfactions and revolts, but union manifestations were also repudiated and punished by the police. Affiliations to the Metalworkers Union of Coronel Fabriciano, which then represented the company's workers, were vetoed.
There is even a report of about two hundred employees who were registered as operators, but in practice were used to supervise the actions of workers both internally and externally. Sometimes security teams monitored employees in bars or in the streets of Ipatinga and, in case of suspicious attitudes, they communicated them to "Usiminas"' management to decide whether to remove or fire the worker. The Department of Political and Social Order (DAOPS) of Minas Gerais, which acted as a kind of intelligence service for Governor José de Magalhães Pinto, also had infiltration among the employees, as did the Brazilian Army, which feared that President João Goulart would establish a unionist republic.
The trigger.
In early October 1963, undercover security forces reported to "Usiminas" the possibility of rising worker impatience and recommended that the company cancel plans such as the creation of a union controlled by itself and the mass dismissal of revolting leaders. At the same time, a secret union among the workers was also denounced. Another notification made was that representatives of the General Workers Command (CGT), through the President and unionist João Goulart, would have been in Ipatinga between October 4 and 6. At first, this visit would have taken place to gain influence from "Belgo-Mineira" workers in the region for that company's strike in São Paulo, but in the Army's view the General Workers Command was seeking support for the "Usiminas" cause among "Belgo-Mineira" and "Aperam" South America employees. On October 4, João Goulart had asked Congress to decree a state of siege throughout the country, in view of the country's economic and social situation in the face of union and political maneuvers.
On the afternoon of October 6, a Sunday, the first meeting of the Metalworkers Union of Coronel Fabriciano in Ipatinga took place, called after aggressions against workers for frivolous reasons, including crowd control and minor disagreements. Many accusations were made against "Usiminas"' security forces and it had been said by Geraldo Ribeiro, president of the union, that the authorities would be made aware and measures would be demanded of the company. There were, however, "Usiminas" representatives infiltrated. When they were informed of the assembly, the company's security service began to reinforce the police to demoralize the resistance that same night.
On the night of October 6, around 10:15 pm, trucks carrying workers away were stopped by security guards near the company's gate for a search. The workers' lunch boxes were opened and liters of milk were spilled. Every day, the workers were entitled to a bag with 250 ml of milk and a French roll, which were often taken home and shared with the family. It was raining that night and there was a riot, resulting in some workers being trampled by the horses of the soldiers covering the action. At the end of the inspection, before the truck continued with the workers, there were cries that the Central Office would be destroyed.
Around 11 pm, an electrician was attacked by police forces after a group close to him resisted orders to dissolve a gathering of people in the "Santa Monica" (now "Horto" neighborhood) lodge. Acquaintances of the electrician fought back with kicks and arms and managed to restrain the security guards, who left but promised to take revenge. Fearing new police attacks, the residents of "Santa Monica" improvised barricades with furniture and drums. Some armed themselves with sticks and iron. At first there were no plans to attack the police forces, only to defend themselves. The confrontation had been alerted to Robson Zamprogno, special delegate of the Ipatinga village and Cavalry Captain, who had been informed that the situation was out of control and needed reinforcement. According to statements of those involved in the police investigation, the arrival of the cavalry, shortly before midnight, would have culminated in dozens of beatings, home invasions, and people shot, among residents and police officers both in "Santa Monica" and in the nearby Chicago Bridge housing. About three hundred people were arrested. Later, the power was cut off.
Conciliation attempt.
Around 2 am of October 7, the police took Avelino Marques, the priest of the Church of Our Lady of Hope, to the "Santa Monica" lodge. Captain Robson Zamprogno asked him to go to the workers and ask them what they wanted and to demand the presence of representatives. The priest said he would go on condition that they put down their weapons, and so he did, heading towards the rebels when he was illuminated by a CEMIG truck. The religious asked that the soldiers withdraw and the 300 detainees be released, which in fact occurred, and it was agreed that a commission would appear at the "Usiminas" Central Office together with Robson and Father Avelino at dawn. He would spend the rest of the morning with the workers. In the company's ambulatory, the injured were being treated.
In view of these events and in anticipation of the commission's meeting with the company's management, a crowd of about 1,500 workers formed shortly before 5 am near the gate, blocking access and inciting strikes. The arrival of more workers led to riots, while others encouraged depredations. The police were notified by the guard service and would send as much effort as possible, but would be limited because "Aperam" South America was also on strike in Timóteo. Father Avelino insisted to the police lieutenant that the movement was peaceful, but as other trucks with workers arrived, the disorder increased. The soldiers with guns on display were instructed by Captain Robson Zamprogno not to kill and not to shoot.
At 7 am, Geraldo Ribeiro arrived at the gate, called to the meeting at the Central Office. Despite the commotion, the union leader asked the lieutenant to withdraw his troops, but his request was denied. At this point, José Isabel do Nascimento, a contractor's foreman, was photographing the crowd from the top of a gate. The flashes of his camera drew attention, even from the police, who felt uncomfortable. The meeting with the board of directors started at 7:30 am and in its course a series of attacks and counterattacks were made between the union and Captain Robson. The union president and Father Avelino proposed to remove the cavalry from Ipatinga, responsible for street policing, but this request was denied by the company and rebuked by Robson. At the same time, the number of workers at the gate exceeded six thousand. The early morning rain brought a lot of mud and dirt to the site.
Massacre.
The meeting