Carlos Marighella (; 5 December 1911 – 4 November 1969) was a Brazilian politician, writer, and guerrilla fighter of

Marxist–Leninist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialect ...

orientation. He was accused of engaging in "terrorist acts" against the

Brazilian military dictatorship The military dictatorship in Brazil ( pt, ditadura militar) was established on 1 April 1964, after a coup d'état by the Brazilian Armed Forces, with support from the United States government, against President João Goulart. The Brazilian dict ...

, which itself was engaged in assassinations, egregious acts of torture, and other forms of

state violence State violence is defined as "the use of legitimate governmental authority to cause unnecessary harm and suffering to groups, individuals, and states". It can be defined broadly or narrowly to refer to such events as genocide, state terrorism, drone ...

. Marighella's most famous contribution to revolutionary struggle literatureWhite, Jonathan. "Ideological Terrorism." Chapter 12 in Terrorism and Homeland Security, 5thEdition. Mason, Ohio, Cengage Learning, 2006. Page 218. was the ''

Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla The ''Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla'' ( pt-BR, Minimanual do Guerrilheiro Urbano) is a book written by Brazilian Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist Revolutionary, revolutionary Carlos Marighella in 1969. It consists of advice on how to dis ...

''.

Biography

Marighella was born in

Salvador Salvador, meaning "salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music *Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ( ...

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (sta ...

, to

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

immigrant Augusto Marighella and

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see "Black people#Brazil, preto"). Most members of another group of people, Pardo Brazilians, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a ...

Maria Rita do Nascimento. His father was a

blue-collar worker A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

originally from

Emilia Emilia may refer to: People * Emilia (given name), list of people with this name Places * Emilia (region), a historical region of Italy. Reggio, Emilia * Emilia-Romagna, an administrative region in Italy, including the historical regions of Emi ...

, while his mother was a descendant of African slaves, brought from

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

( Hausa blacks). He spent his young life at a house in Rua do Desterro, at the Baixa do Sapateiro neighbourhood, where he would graduate from primary and secondary education. In 1934, he left the Polytechnic School of Bahia, where he was pursuing a degree in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewage ...

, in order to become an active member of the

Brazilian Communist Party The Brazilian Communist Party ( pt-BR, Partido Comunista Brasileiro), originally the Communist Party of Brazil (), is a communist party in Brazil founded on 25 March 1922 which makes the disputed claim of being the oldest political party stil ...

(PCB). He then moved to

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

to work in the restructuring of PCB.

Arrests

Marighella was first arrested in 1932, after he wrote an offensive poem about the administration of Bahia intervener Juracy Magalhães. On 1 May 1936, during the

Getúlio Vargas Getúlio Dornelles Vargas (; 19 April 1882 – 24 August 1954) was a Brazilian lawyer and politician who served as the 14th and 17th president of Brazil, from 1930 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1954. Due to his long and controversial tenure as Brazi ...

time in presidency, he was once again arrested for subversion. He was arrested again by the political police led by

Filinto Müller Filinto Strubing Müller (11 July 1900 – 11 July 1973) was a military-associated Brazilian politician who served as President of the Senate for the state of Mato Grosso. He was also Chief of Federal District police during much of the governm ...

. He remained in jail for a year. He was released by "macedada" (the measure which freed political prisoners without pressing charges against them). After his release, he once again entered clandestinity, along with all members of PCB. He was recaptured in 1939. He was not released until 1945, when an amnesty during the democratization process of the country benefited all political prisoners. The following year, Marighella was elected constituent federal deputy by the Bahian branch of PCB, but he lost his office in 1948 under the new proscription of the party. Back in clandestinity, he occupied several offices in the leadership of the party. Invited by the

Central Committee of the Communist Party of China The Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, officially the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a political body that comprises the top leaders of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It is currently composed of 205 fu ...

, Marighella visited China between 1953 and 1954 in order to learn more about the

Chinese Communist Revolution The Chinese Communist Revolution, officially known as the Chinese People's War of Liberation in the People's Republic of China (PRC) and also known as the National Protection War against the Communist Rebellion in the Republic of China (ROC ...

. In May 1964, after the

military coup A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such ...

, he was shot and arrested by agents of the Department of Social and Political Order (Departamento de Ordem Política e Social - DOPS), the political police, at a movie theater in Rio. He was released in the following year by a court order.

Writing, founding the Ação Libertadora Nacional

In 1966, he wrote ''The Brazilian Crisis'', opting for the armed struggle against the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

. Later that year, he renounced his office in the national leadership of PCB. In August 1967, he participated at the 1st Conference of Latin American Solidarity in

Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

, contradicting what party had determined. In Havana, he wrote ''Some Questions About the Guerrillas in Brazil'', dedicated to the memory of

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

and made public by ''

Jornal do Brasil ''Jornal do Brasil'', widely known as ''JB'', is a daily newspaper published by Editora JB in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The paper was founded in 1891 and is the third oldest extant Brazilian paper, after the ''Diário de Pernambuco'' and ''O Esta ...

'' on 5 September 1968. That same year he was expelled from PCB, and founded the

Ação Libertadora Nacional The National Liberation Action (''Ação Libertadora Nacional'', ALN) was a Marxism-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist Urban guerrilla warfare, urban guerrilla group in Brazil which fought against the Military dictatorship in Brazil, Brazilian military dic ...

(ALN) in February 1968. In September 1969, ALN members kidnapped the U.S. ambassador

Charles Burke Elbrick Charles Burke Elbrick (March 25, 1908 – April 12, 1983) was a United States diplomat and career foreign service officer. During his career, he served three ambassadorships: in Portugal, Yugoslavia and Brazil, in addition to numerous minor post ...

in a coordinated move with the

Revolutionary Movement 8th October 8th October Revolutionary Movement (''Movimento Revolucionário 8 de Outubro'', MR8) was a Marxist political organization that took part in armed struggle against the Military dictatorship in Brazil. It was formed in 1964 among college students i ...

(Movimento Revolucionário 8 de Outubro – MR-8). The group was responsible for several executions as well.

Death

After a series of successful robberies and kidnappings, the police force was determined to eliminate him. He was shot by police at an ambush at 8pm on 4 November 1969 at 800 Alameda Casa Branca,

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

. This ambush was organized by police deputy

Sérgio Paranhos Fleury Sérgio Fernando Paranhos Fleury (19 May 1933 – 1 May 1979) was a Brazilian police deputy during the Brazilian military dictatorship. He was chief of ''DOPS'', the Brazilian "", that had a major role during the years of the Brazilian military g ...

, known for his work inside DOPS. Marighella was buried at Cemitério Público da Quinta dos Lázaros, a cemetery in Salvador, Bahia. His tombstone was designed by architect

Oscar Niemeyer Oscar Ribeiro de Almeida Niemeyer Soares Filho (15 December 1907 – 5 December 2012), known as Oscar Niemeyer (), was a Brazilian architect considered to be one of the key figures in the development of modern architecture. Niemeyer was ...

, and is the only grave monument designed by the architect. It bears a quote from Marighella: "I didn't have time to be afraid" (''Não tive tempo para ter medo'').

Legacy

Marighella's most famous contribution to revolutionary struggle literature was the ''

'', consisting of advice on how to disrupt and overthrow a military regime as part of a Marxist revolution. Written shortly before his death in late 1969 in São Paulo, ''Minimanual'' was first published in North America by the ''

Berkeley Tribe The ''Berkeley Tribe'' was a radical counterculture weekly underground newspaper published in Berkeley, California from 1969 to 1972. It was formed after a bitter staff dispute with publisher Max Scherr and split the nationally known ''Berkeley B ...

'' in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

in July 1970 in an English edition.library of congress.gov/chronicling america/berkeley tribeUniversity of Michigan.gov/archives/underground newspapers/microfilm collection

In popular culture

In the 2006 biographical drama film ''

Baptism of Blood In Christian theology, baptism of blood () or baptism by blood, also called martyred baptism, is a doctrine which holds that a Christian is able to attain through martyrdom the grace of justification normally attained through baptism by water, ...

'', Marighella was portrayed by Brazilian actor and musician Marku Ribas. In the 2019 drama '' Marighella'', Marighella was portrayed by

Seu Jorge Jorge Mário da Silva, more commonly known by his stage name Seu Jorge (Seu, an abbreviation of "Senhor"; born June 8, 1970; ), is a Brazilian musical artist, songwriter, and actor. He is considered by many a renewer of Brazilian pop samba. Seu ...

; the film was accomplished actor

Wagner Moura Wagner Maniçoba de Moura (; born 27 June 1976) is a Brazilian actor, director, filmmaker, musician, and journalist. Wagner started his career doing theater in Salvador, where he worked with renowned directors, and soon scored some appearances ...

's directorial debut. The movie was exhibited at international film festivals, but Brazil's Agência Nacional do Cinema (National Agency of Cinema), during Bolsonaro's government, barred it from distribution in Brazil, citing "subversive elements"; it finally appeared on Brazilian screens in November, 2021.

References

External links

"Pattern of Terror"
''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'', 24 August 1970
''Minimanual of the Urban Guerrilla''
by Carlos Marighella
"Estratégia para matar o terror"
''

Veja Veja may refer to : Places * Veja, a town in Lazio, central Italy; now Vejano comune * Veja, a village in Stănița Commune, Neamț County, Romania * Veja River, Romania * Veja State, a former princely state in present Gujarat, western India Perso ...

'', 12 November 1969 {{DEFAULTSORT:Marighella, Carlos 1911 births 1969 deaths Brazilian people of Italian descent Stalinism Anti-revisionists Brazilian communists Brazilian revolutionaries Revolution theorists Brazilian guerrillas Brazilian Communist Party politicians Far-left politics in Brazil Terrorism in Brazil People from Salvador, Bahia Brazilian people of African descent Urban guerrilla warfare theorists Guerrillas killed in action People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Brazil Dead and missing in the fight against the military dictatorship in Brazil (1964–1985) Assassinations in Brazil