Rural workers and the “credo vermelho”: protestant experiences in the Goiana Peasant League, Pernambuco

Abstract

Between the late 1950’s and early 1960’s, rural workers were the protagonists of a time of great social upheaval. Working in the Peasant Leagues or in the rural unions, the workers mobilized struggles that had the purpose of conquering rights, achieving better living and working conditions. These experiences were carefully recorded by the police authorities of the Departamento de Ordem Política e Social (DOPS), who saw in the mobilizations the development of the communist threat in Pernambuco. From police records it was possible to identify the mobilization of workers in Goiana, a municipality in the Zona da Mata Norte of Pernambuco. Based on the report of fires in the sugar cane fields belonging to Companhia Açucareira de Goiana, police investigators described in their reports the presence of “dangerous elements” that contributed to the “destabilization of order” in that municipality. At the same time, the analysis of police records brought to light the participation of protestants in these social mobilizations that, according to the researchers’ interpretation, promoted a new modality of “communist infiltration into the countryside”. Therefore, our objective rests on the investigation of Protestant participation in rural mobilizations in Goiana, emphasizing the role of these leaders and their approach to the discussion on the Social Gospel.