RURAL SOCIAL MOVEMENTS, POLITICAL REPRESSION AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS: VIOLATION OF CIVIL AND POLITICAL RIGHTS IN PARAÍBAAND PERNAMBUCO AND LEGALINSTITUTIONAL DISPUTES BETWEEN 1964 AND 1969
Constitutional History. Peasant Leagues. Military Dictatorship. Habeas Corpus. Northeast.
This thesis presents research on the persecution of leaders of social movements in rural areas, specifically those linked to the Peasant Leagues in Paraiba and Pernambuco. In this context, it analyzes the constitutional crisis of 1964, which culminated in the military coup. In light of this crisis and its developments, the study aims to examine the disputes between the Superior Military Court and the Supreme Federal Court during the period from 1964 to 1969. The individuals analyzed in Habeas Corpus cases, Military Police Inquiries, session minutes of the Legislative Assembly of Paraiba, and newspapers, regarding the process of civil and political rights violations, are: the former governor of Pernambuco, Miguel Arraes; the former Paraiba congressman, Assis Lemos; the rural worker, Elizabeth Altino Teixeira; and the lawyer and politician, Francisco Julião Arruda de Paula. Therefore, the theoretical foundations of this thesis engage with Brazilian Constitutional History, using the concepts of Representation, New Political History, and Constitutional Crisis as conceptual frameworks to understand Brazil’s legal, historical, and political processes during the military dictatorship. Thus, the objective is to analyze the constitutional crisis, during the period from 1964 to 1969, focusing on the violation of civil and political rights in the context of the Peasant Leagues movement, observing the concept of Constitutional Crisis in light of the persecutions faced by the aforementioned northeastern figures and how the Peasant Leagues movement reverberated socially, politically, and legally in northeastern Brazil and the country as a whole. Methodologically, this research in the field of Constitutional Law was developed through a historical narrative based on the principles of qualitative research, specifically regarding the handling, reading, and interpretation of primary sources.