CURRENT PROJECT: TRANSLATION "A HISTÓRIA DO RIO DE JANEIRO" (PORTUGUÊS--->ENGLISH)
For an overview of the history of the current state of Rio de Janeiro, the following points must be considered:
History edit
Background edit
The Captaincy and France Antarctique edit
At the time of the establishment of Captaincy system in Brazil, the modern day territory of the state of Rio de Janeiro found itself compromised between the Captaincies of São Tomé and São Vicente.
Not having been colonized by the Portuguese, due to the hostility of the indigenous peoples along the coast, between 1555 and 1567, the bay of Guanabara was occupied by a group of French colonies, initially under the command of Nicolas Durand de Villegagnon, who intended to found the colony France Antarctique.
Aiming to bypass this occupation, ensuring the possession of the territory by the Portuguese Crown, on the March 1st, 1565, the city of Rio de Janeiro was founded, by Estácio de Sá, coming to be known as, by conquest, the Royal Captaincy of Rio de Janeiro.
The Philippine Dynasty edit
In the 18th century, livestock and sugar cane crops boosted the progress of the Captaincy, as soon as, between 1583 and 1623, the area of the greatest prominence of sugar production, in Southern Brazil, shifted from the coast of the Captaincy of São Vicente to that of Rio de Janeiro, in the region of Guanabara Bay. In 1629 there were 60 working sugar plantations in Rio de Janeiro, by 1639, this number had grown to one hundred ten. During the Philippine Dynasty, Rio de Janeiro sizably increased its sugar exports to Lisboa, due to the loss of the Pernambuco Captaincy during the Dutch invasions of Brazil (see Dutch Brazil). At this time, near the turn of the century, there were one hundred twenty registered sugar plantations in operation.
With the independence of Portugal (1640), the traders and vessels of the Captaincy received permission to trade directly with Africa, from the port in Rio de Janeiro, with the aim of intensifying slave trade, including to the da Prata River basin.
This trade was considerably impaired by the taking of Angola by the Dutch West India Company in 1641. Due to this fact, the demand for indigenous slaves increased, as did the conflicts with the religious followers of the Society of Jesus.
Acting decisively towards the regain of Angola, by way of the Royal Letter of June 6, 1647, passed by the Chancellery of Dom João IV, was granted the title of “the very loyal city of São Sebastião of Rio de Janeiro” that which secured the same priveledges of cities as Lisboa or Porto, in the metropolis. Angola was regained definitively in 1648.
The prices of sugar fluctuated consistently during the period, and were registered lowest between 1635 and 1645, with the conquest of Pernambuco by the Dutch and again between 1659 and 1668, due to the prohibition of the fabrication and sale of brandy (see cachaça), used as currency in trade with Africa. In this context , within the Captaincy there was an outbreak called the Cachaça Revolt, in 1660, against the domination by the family Salvador de Sá.
Tariffs were also imposed upon the exportation of tobacco, however in smaller proportions than in Bahia and Pernambuco, and whaling in the waters of the Guanabara Bay, these were so extensive that, in 1644, the municipality of Rio imposed a tax upon this entire industry.
With Salvador Correia de Sá e Benevides, the naval construction sector gained importance, having been outstanding to the construction of the Galleon Padre Eterno, with the one hundred and fourteen pieces of artillery. The sector never prospered due to the lack of a specialized labor force.
The navigation of cabotage increased since 1660 including the legal trafficking with other captaincies and illegal trafficking with Buenos Aires, which caused certain trade groups to flourish.
Other problems of the Captaincy were the lack of currency, critical in 1640, until the age of the Restoration. It was only solved at the end of the century, with the discovery of gold in the mines of Minas Gerais, and the consequent installation of a casthouse in Rio de Janeiro, in 1698.
The 18th Century edit
The prosperity of the Captaincy was ultimately secured when the port of the city of Rio de Janeiro began to export gold and diamonds extracted from the mines of Minas Gerais in the 18th century, due to this, in 1763 the city of Rio de Janeiro became the headquarters of the viceroyalty of Brazil and the capital of the colony.
The Royal Family edit
With the move of the Portuguese Royal Family to Brazil, in 1809, in the context of the Peninsular War, the city of Rio de Janeiro benefited greatly from various urban reforms aimed to accommodate the Portuguese court. The most notable changes were: the transference of the certain facets of public and judicial administrations, the construction of new churches, hospitals and barracks, the founding of the first national bank, the Banco do Brasil, the creation of the Public Journal, alongside the first official newspaper in the country, The Rio de Janeiro Gazette and the General Stewardship of Police of the Court and State of Brazil. In the following years the Jardim Botânico, schools of Medicine and Surgery in Salvador (today the College of Medicine at the Federal University of Bahia) and in Rio de Janeiro (today the College of Medicine at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro), the Royal Library (today the National Library), and the Royal Military Academy, predecessor to the current Academia Militar de Agulhas Negras.
In this way, the process of sociocultural revolution occurred, not only influenced by information and peoples brought after the arrival of the royal family, but also through the presence of European artists contacted to document Brazilian society and nature. At the same time, the Royal Academy of Sciences, Arts and Crafts (Escola Real de Ciências, Artes e Ofícios) (the current Escola de Belas Artes da Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro)
The Province of Rio de Janeiro edit
After the transfer of the Portuguese crown to the city of Rio de Janeiro, the autonomy, that the province had greatly aspired to, was not achieved in the same way as the others, since the Ministry of the King, office which was practically a substitute for the Viceroy with relation to Rio de Janeiro, was confined to its administration.
Alongside this was the fact that the city of Rio was the capital of the Empire, causing the entire province to be governed by a system of "warnings", which supported the city councils of cities which, at that time, were growing in great strides due to the growth in size and number of coffee plantations, which had already overcome sugarcane production in the region of North Fluminense.
These differences in between the remaining administrative entities made 1834 the year in which the city of Rio would be transformed into a neutral municipal district, continuing to be the capital of the country, meanwhile the province or Rio de Janeiro changed to adopt the same political organization as the other provinces, now with the capital in Vila Real da Praia Grande, which came to be renamed Niterói in the following year.
Now that the city of Rio came to possess a city council which would care for the life of the city without any interference from the president of the province, and in 1889, following the implementation of the Republic, the city continued to be the capital, being the neutral municipality turned federal district and province turned state. With the relocation of the capital to Brasília in 1960, the municipality of Rio de Janeiro was made the state of Guanabara.
Despite the drastic change in power which occurred in the fluminense province soon after the creation of the Neutral Municipality (85 rulers by the end of the Empire), the expansion of coffee production brought a never before seen prosperity to the region.
Both with the surfacing of new urban centers in the province and the splendor exhibited by the farms of the "coffee barons" which brought the prosperity of "Green Gold", which also brought educational developments, noted by the construction of a number of schools throughout all cities of the province.
Alongside this, however, slave labor continued to be alive and well and proved to make up the base of the fluminense coffee society which continued to spread well into the Paraíba Valley. During this time, the province became the most prosperous and powerful in the country and the main exporter of goods.
This situation continued until 1888. With the abolition of slavery, the fluminense aristocracy was greatly weakened due to the fact that the work force had disintegrated and the soil became more exhausted and the harvests less significant with each passing year.
The State of Rio de Janeiro edit
Decline was the prominent theme during the last days of the imperial regime. In the fight towards a Republic, a number of the proponents were distinguished fluminenses such as Antônio da Silva Jardim, Lopes Trovão and Francisco Rangel Pestana among others. The abolitionist campaign was also a strong presence.
Soon after the declaration of a republic, political problems appeared which, over time, served to destroy the greatness and prestige achieved during the days of the empire.
Following the approval of the new state constitution on April 9, 1892, the state capital was transfered to the city of Petrópolis due to disruptions which occurred during the government of Marechal Floriano Peixoto in the cities of Rio and Niterói, and also due to the occurrence of the Revolta da Armada.
After several years of political disagreements which caused the state to lose its administrative direction, proven by the duality of Legislative Assembly of Rio de Janeiro in three periods, this further increased the fluminense economic crisis, which began to change, gradually, its coffee plantations into pastures for livestock. This ensured that the state of Rio did not follow the same path of industrial development experienced by São Paulo.
The Revolution of 1930 and the Estado Novo edit
With the arrival of Getulio Vargas to power, a number of stakeholders were appointed who were not able to alter Rio de Janeiro's socio-economic condition until in 1937, Ernani do Amaral Peixoto, a relative of Vargas (who married Alzira Vargas in 1939) who was held in high esteem by the state, was appointed as a stakeholder. He encouraged the industrial development of the region with the foundation of the National Steel Company (CSN) in Volta Redonda and the National Motor Factory (FNM) in Duque de Caixas in Baixiada Fluminense. He also played an important role in the expansion of the state highway system.
Amaral Peixoto also mobilized the Fluminense population in the force of war which resulted in the acquisition of a new naval fleet for the Brazilian Navy with collected funds.
Important events from this period also include the formation of various institutes of higher education as well as centers dedicated to the study of Fluminense history and culture, which were founded in an attempt to save the history as well as construct an identity for the population of the state which had been empty both politically and economically since the end of the Segundo Império.
Democratization and the 1964 coup d'état edit
Com a queda de Vargas, Amaral Peixoto foi afastado do comando do Estado e cinco interventores sucederam-se no governo fluminense até a eleição, em 1947 de Edmundo de Macedo Soares e Silva, construtor da usina de Volta Redonda, que reorganizou a administração e as finanças estaduais, bem como continuou o incentivo à industrialização e à produção agropecuária.
Foi sucedido, entretanto, por Amaral Peixoto, que dá nova força à expansão industrial e rodoviária, datando desse período a criação da Companhia Nacional de Álcalis.
Até o ano de 1964, os governos estaduais procuram dinamizar a economia fluminense, reformando a estrutura do estado, organizando sua educação superior (cria-se em 1960 a Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, posteriormente Universidade Federal Fluminense), melhorando a infra-estrutura elétrica (é desse período a criação das Centrais Elétricas Fluminenses, posteriormente CERJ) e dando nova feição à cidade de Niterói.
Após o Golpe de 1964, o governador Badger da Silveira, recém-eleito em 1963, é afastado do cargo, sendo substituído pelo General Paulo Torres que trata de criar a Companhia de Desenvolvimento do Estado do Rio de Janeiro.
Segue-se a ele Jeremias Fontes e Raimundo Padilha, que seria o último governador do Estado do Rio antes da fusão com o da Guanabara, datando do seu governo a conclusão da Ponte Rio-Niterói e o início da construção da usina nuclear de Angra dos Reis.
The New State of Rio edit
Após a edição da Lei Complementar nº20 em 1974, assinada pelo presidente Ernesto Geisel, fundiram-se os Estados da Guanabara e do Rio de Janeiro em 15 de Março de 1975. A capital do novo Estado do Rio de Janeiro passou a ser a cidade do Rio de Janeiro, voltando-se a situação político-territorial anterior a 1834, ano da criação do Município Neutro. Foram mantidos ainda os símbolos do antigo Estado do Rio de Janeiro, enquanto os símbolos do antigo Estado da Guanabara passaram a ser os símbolos do Município do Rio de Janeiro.
Alguns alegam que a motivação por trás do presidente Geisel para a fusão foi neutralizar a força oposicionista do MDB no Estado da Guanabara. O antigo Estado do Rio de Janeiro, tradicionalmente, sempre foi considerado um pólo de conservadorismo, vide governos sucessivos da ARENA e posteriormente do PDS, apesar da grande força do PTB, e depois de 1964, do MDB, nessa região, o que levou à errônea conclusão que este viria a neutralizar a oposição emedebista guanabarina, evitando Maiores problemas para o governo militar, que acaba por indicar como primeiro governador do "novo" estado o almirante Floriano Peixoto Faria Lima.
Apesar de Faria Lima assumir o Estado com promessas do governo federal de maciços investimentos, a fim de compensar os problemas que poderiam advir da fusão, esses não se concretizaram plenamente, mesmo com a implantação das usinas nucleares em Angra dos Reis e a expansão da Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional, o que acarretou problemas que viriam a ser sentidos, principalmente nas áreas de habitação, educação, saúde e segurança partir da década de 1980.
Com a abertura política e a volta das eleições diretas para governador, os fluminenses elegem no ano de 1982 Leonel de Moura Brizola, do PDT exilado político desde 1964, que voltava ao Brasil com a bandeira do trabalhismo varguista, o que conquistou o eleitorado insatisfeito com o segundo governo de Chagas Freitas.
Brizola angaria nesse primeiro mandato a antipatia do eleitorado conservador devido as suas políticas de amparo às comunidades carentes, encaradas como de cunho populista. No seu primeiro governo, Brizola constrói o Sambódromo e dá início aos Centros Integrados de Educação Pública (CIEP), escolas projetadas por Oscar Niemeyer e idealizadas pelo professor Darcy Ribeiro para funcionarem em tempo integral. A crescente crise na área da segurança pública e os desgastantes atritos com as Organizações Globo acabaram por impedir que ele fizesse seu sucessor.
Nas eleições de 1986, Moreira Franco é eleito governador pelo PMDB numa ampla aliança anti-brizolista que ia do PFL ao PC do B. Moreira teve a ajuda do Plano Cruzado, plano econômico lançado no governo do presidente José Sarney que visava o controle da inflação e que malogrou ante a acusação, por parte da oposição, de ter sido eleitoreiro. A decepção com o governo Moreira Franco, que não cumpriu a promessa de acabar com a violência em seis meses, levou o eleitorado fluminense a eleger Leonel Brizola novamente, em 1990.
Em seu segundo mandato Brizola conclui os CIEPs, constrói a Linha Vermelha, a Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense (UENF), amplia o sistema de abastecimento hídrico do Guandú e dá início ao Programa de Despoluição da Baía de Guanabara (PDBG). Porém os problemas crônicos na área de segurança bem como nas contas públicas estaduais, fazem o Estado sofrer uma "intervenção branca" do governo federal no ano de 1992, durante a conferência mundial sobre ecologia ECO-92, e também no ano de 1994. A utilização de tropas das Forças Armadas no patrulhamento das ruas da capital é amplamente apoiada pela população.
Em meio a esses problemas, Brizola renuncia ao mandato a fim de concorrer às eleições presidenciais. O governo estadual é assumido pelo seu vice Nilo Batista que após 8 meses passa o comando para Marcello Alencar, eleito pelo PSDB em 1994 graças ao bom desempenho de sua passagem pela prefeitura da cidade do Rio e ao sucesso Plano Real. Marcello retoma as obras do Metrô paralisadas desde a gestão Moreira Franco, constrói a Via Light e implementa uma política de segurança pública mais voltada ao confronto armado, o que acaba por gerar antipatia da população de baixa renda, mais exposta aos enfrentamentos entre a polícia e bandidos.
Na eleição seguinte, Anthony Garotinho, apadrinhado à época por Brizola e que anteriormente havia perdido a eleição para Alencar, é eleito governador pelo PDT, apoiado por uma aliança de esquerda que inclui como vice na chapa a então senadora Benedita da Silva, do PT, que o substitui em 2002 quando ele também renuncia, como Brizola, visando a corrida presidencial. Benedita assume em meio a problemas de ordem fiscal que acabam por impedí-la de se reeleger, sendo derrotada por Rosinha Garotinho, esposa de Anthony Garotinho, que procura, após eleita, manter o estilo por vezes controvertido de governar de seu marido, enfrentando ainda duras críticas com relação à situação da segurança pública.
Nas eleições de 2006 o eleitorado fluminense elegeu Sérgio Cabral Filho como o novo governador. A vitória ocorreu no segundo turno após vencer a ex-juíza Denise Frossard, apoiada por Cesar Maia. Apesar de pertencer ao mesmo partido de Garotinho e Rosinha (PMDB) Cabral vem dissociando, desde a campanha, sua imagem da do casal. A aproximação com o presidente Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, a nomeação de Benedita da Silva e Joaquim Levy para o seu secretariado e a extinção de projetos como o Cheque-Cidadão e Jovens pela Paz (considerados como marcas registradas do período Garotinho/Rosinha) foram atitudes tomadas por Cabral que sinalizam este distanciamento.