HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Cangaço'' () was a phenomenon of Northeast
Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This region of Brazil is known for its aridness and hard way of life, and in a form of "
social banditry Social banditry or social crime is a form of Resistance movement, social resistance involving behavior that by law is illegal but is supported by wider "oppressed" society as moral and acceptable. The term "social bandit" was invented by the Marx ...
" against the government, many men and women decided to become nomadic bandits, roaming the hinterlands seeking money, food, and revenge.


Origin of the word

By 1834, the term ''cangaceiro'' was already used to refer to bands of poor peasants who inhabited the northeastern deserts, wearing leather clothing and hats, carrying carbines, revolvers, shotguns, and the long narrow knife known as the . "Cangaceiro" was a pejorative expression, meaning a person who could not adapt himself to the coastal lifestyle.


Types of banditry

By the mid-19th century in that region, there were two main groups of loosely organized armed outlaws: the '' jagunços'', mercenaries who worked for whoever paid their price, usually land-owners who wanted to protect or expand their territorial limits and also deal with farm workers; and the cangaceiros, "social bandits", who had some level of support from the poorest population. The 1920s and 1930s saw the height of cangaceiro activity, with the most prominent bands numbering up to as many as 100 bandits. The bandits often behaved well to the poorer sections of society, performing acts of charity, buying goods for higher than usual prices from small shopkeepers and giving free parties ("bailes"). In contrast, the wealthy were robbed, targeted for forced monetary contributions (
extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...
) and were often kidnapped and held to ransom. The cangaceiro bands were sheltered by helpers within the population, who also provided information which helped them escape from police forces, known as volantes, sent by the government to destroy them. The poorer inhabitants of the backlands of the Brazilian Northeast were generally badly treated by the paramilitary police, and often preferred the presence of cangaceiro bands in their settlements.


Lampião

The most famous cangaceiro of them all, the one who is often associated with the whole history of the cangaço, was a man called Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, also known as " Lampião" ("Oil Lamp", because, he could fire a lever-action rifle so quickly that it looked like he was holding a lamp). He began when he was just a boy, amongst vendetta plots of the Pereira and Nogueira-Carvalho families. When his parents were killed because of these disputes, some of his brothers ran away, but Antônio, Livino, and Ezequiel followed Virgulino into the cangaço. Seen as a mixture of hero and bandit, Lampião became one of the most representative icons of the Northeastern region. Wandering around Santa Brígida, in the state of
Bahia Bahia () 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 (state), São Paulo, Mina ...
, he met Maria Alia da Silva (a.k.a. Maria de Déia), wife of shoemaker Zé de Nenê. Later she would be better known as Mrs. Lampião, Maria Bonita (literally "Pretty Maria"). Lampião was killed by the police in 1938, in Sergipe, next to the state limits of Sergipe and
Alagoas Alagoas () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is ...
, when an informer, Joca Bernardes, gave away their location to the police. A massive offensive led to bloodshed, and eleven members of the band were killed: Lampião, Maria Bonita, Luís Pedro, Mergulhão, Enedina, Elétrico, Quinta-Feira, Moeda, Alecrim, Colchete and Macela. Forty others in the band managed to escape.


Coiteiros

Coiteiros were people who helped the cangaceiros, giving them shelter and food. They did this for many reasons – they could be relatives of a cangaceiro, friends, ex-neighbours, simply had some interest in their power, or were afraid of them.


Volantes and monkeys

The volantes were a small and special band of troops—around twenty to sixty—from every state of the Brazilian federation, formed by the government law-enforcement agencies sent to seek and destroy the cangaceiros. The cangaceiros often referred to them as "monkeys", because of their brown uniforms and their willingness to obey their superiors' orders. Some of them carried modern Hotchkiss machine guns, weapons that the cangaceiros quickly learned to fear—but were always willing to steal for their own use.


Cangaceiro style

The cangaceiros had very specific notions of how to behave and dress. First of all, most of them knew how to sew quite well. Living in the desert lands of the northeast of Brazil, they had to survive amidst spiky dry bushes. Despite the heat during the day, the cangaceiros preferred to wear leather clothing, embellished with all kinds of coloured ribbons and metal pieces. They also used leather gloves with coins and other pieces of metal sewn onto them, almost like armour but with decorative purposes. Because of the heat and the absence of water, some cangaceiros -–especially Lampião-– wore French perfume. They often stole it from rich people's houses, but usually paid for it if obtained from small shopkeepers, and used it in large quantities.


Cangaceiro weapons

The weapons of the Cangaceiros were mostly Mauser bolt-action and
Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...
-like lever-action rifles, revolvers and the famous "''pára belo''". It is claimed that like 'macaco' (monkey), 'belo' (beautiful) was another slang term for the policemen. Hence, pistols were called "'' pára belo''" (belo ''stopper''). However, the name seems to be actually a derivation of the Latin expression ''para bellum'', which means "prepare for war" and was used to refer to the then official sidearm used by the Brazilian governmental troops and by some of the law enforcement soldiers, the
Luger pistol The Pistole Parabellum or Parabellum-Pistole (Pistol Parabellum), commonly known as just the Luger or Luger P08, is a toggle-locked recoil-operated semi-automatic pistol. The Luger was produced in several models and by several nations from 1 ...
, which was produced by the German arms maker DWM.Chandler, pp. 71, 183 They also made famous a thin, long, and very sharp knife nicknamed a "''peixeira''", a fish-filleting knife, used mostly to torture or slit the throats of their victims. The knife was also used in a very specific way to kill quickly; the blade was stabbed downwards between the neck and collarbone. Due to its length, the blade would cause instantly lethal damage to major blood vessels and the heart.


Famous cangaceiros

* Adolfo Meia-Noite * Antônio Silvino * Corisco * Diogo Figueira da Rocha aka "Dioguinho" (in São Paulo) * Jesuíno Brilhante * Lampião * Lucas da Feira * Maria Bonita * Sinhô Pereira * Anésia Cauaçu


The Cangaço in film

* '' O Cangaceiro'', Lima Barreto 1953 * '' A Morte Comanda o Cangaço'', Carlos Coimbra and Walter Guimarães Motta 1961 * '' Lampião, Rei do Cangaço'', Carlos Coimbra 1963 * '' Deus e o Diabo na Terra do Sol'', English title: "Black God, White Devil" Glauber Rocha 1964 * '' O Dragão da Maldade Contra o Santo Guerreiro'', English title: "Antonio das Mortes" Glauber Rocha 1969 * '' Baile Perfumado'', Paulo Caldas and Lírio Ferreira 1997 * '' O Auto Da Compadecida, English title: "A Dog's Will" Guel Arraes 2000 * '' O Matador'', Marcelo Galvão 2017


See also

*
Banditry Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, ...
*
History of Brazil Before the arrival of the Europeans, the lands that now constitute Brazil were occupied, fought over and settled by diverse tribes. Thus, the history of Brazil begins with the indigenous people in Brazil. The Portuguese arrived to the land tha ...
*
Land reform Land reform (also known as agrarian reform) involves the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership, land use, and land transfers. The reforms may be initiated by governments, by interested groups, or by revolution. Lan ...
* Landless Workers' Movement *
Piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...


References


Bibliography

* *Singelmann, Peter (1975) ''Political Structure and Social Banditry in Northeast Brazil.'' Journal of Latin American Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cangaco Brazilian folklore First Brazilian Republic Second Brazilian Republic Estado Novo (Brazil) Outlaws Gangs in Brazil Brazilian rebels Brazilian criminals Empire of Brazil