Paradise is just ahead: social rights in soviet propaganda to Brazil (1950-1964)

It was only in the early 1960s that the pessimistic situation seemed to begin to change. Lydia sent a letter to Natasha saying that the situation on their political work was taking another direction, Lydia da Cunha, “Lydia Da Cunha to Natasha Berezhnaya,” Letter, February 24, 1960, f. P7289 op. 2 d. 465 l. 12, GARF. something that seemed to be part of the new rise of the nationalist forces of that period, although she did not give any detail. Even though the nationalist forces were defeated in October 1960 with the election of the conservative and anti-communist Jânio Quadros, he maintained an independent foreign policy and his vice was a labor-winger and nationalist, João Goulart. At the time, president and vice-presidents were elected separately, and on that occasion the right elected the president and the left elected the vice-president. Jânio was an extravagant and controversial fellow. In an attempt to extend his powers, he resigned in 1961 hoping that Congress would not accept his resignation and it would still strengthen his authority. Jânio's blackmail proved to be a shot in his own foot when the Congress formally accepted his resignation. From then on, a turbulent period began. The left defended, through the Campaign for Legality, the inauguration of João Goulart as President. The right and the military wanted to implement an unconstitutional parliamentary system and choose a new president through Congress. After an intense mobilization, the left prevailed and Jango was inaugurated the new President.

The closure of the FMB in 1957 was not reversed, but this did not prevent them from continuing their political work in local and regional organizations. Likewise, correspondence continued to pour from one hemisphere to another. In a letter dated September 1960, Lydia da Cunha expressed her admiration for the technological and economic development of the USSR and hailed the safe return of the cosmic dogs Belka and Strelka. Additionally, she highlighted in what was her bigger interest in the country of the Soviets: `Through you I salute all the Soviet women for such brilliant achievements of your people. Between the Soviet achievements, we strive to be able to spread more and more the life of your people and especially the concept of equality that your women enjoy.' Lydia da Cunha, “Lydia Da Cunha to Natasha Berezhnaya,” Letter, September 9, 1960, f. P7289 op. 2 d. 465 l. 20, GARF.



3.9 The Brazilian dawn and Vostok's tense landing in Copacabana (1961-1964)

The victory of João Goulart, who was raised from vice-president to president, was accompanied by a great enthusiasm from the nationalist, left-wing, reformist and revolutionary forces within the Brazilian society. After the attempted coup by Jânio Quadros through his resignation in 1961, as well as the civic and nationalist movement of the Legality Network, a defeat was imposed on the conservative and entreguist forces of the country who wanted to change the political regime to parliamentarianism and prevent Goulart's constitutional inauguration as president. The excitement for the possibility of pushing forward the democratic reform project interrupted by pressures that, among other things, led Getúlio Vargas to suicide, was particularly visible in some MS publications. For example, Leda Acquarone de Sá wrote a New Year's message to MS in which she said that `from this side of the Atlantic came a ray of light [...] This light of hope that began to shine in the sky of America is the best message that Brazilian women can send their sisters from all over the world.' Leda Acquarone de Sá, “¡Feliz Año Nuevo!,” La Mujer Soviética, Enero 1963, 04. The analysis that this was a political moment marked by the rise of the masses and their awareness in the struggle for reform was an aspect present in the narrative of the time, as shown in an article of the professor Fanny Tabak Fanny Tabak, “Por Que Luchan Las Mujeres de Mi Pais,” La Mujer Soviética, December 1962, 21.. Although the outcome of 1964 with the victory of the conservative coup showed that the degree of organization of the working class and its willingness to fight for reforms was not as great as it appeared in the speeches, even signaling some illusion of the leaderships with the size of their own power.

The excitement was also for changes in the Brazilian foreign policy itself, which began to have more daring and independent movements in the face of the American stand. A journalist travelling to the USSR reported in the pages of MS that during his visit to a hospital in Kiev he heard on the radio the news of the resumption of diplomatic relations between Brazil and the USSR: `At that time it was difficult to distinguish, among those gathered, who were the Soviet citizens and who were the Brazilians, so similar, spontaneous and noisy were the manifestations of all.' Paulo Silveira, “Diré a Los Brasileños...,” La Mujer Soviética, Abril 1962, 32.

It seemed like a long night was coming to an end and, for some people, Brazil was becoming effectively independent and could fraternize with whomever it wanted. In 1961, the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries certainly opened doors for an exchange that had been unprecedented until then. The USSR, in its search for allies in the Global South took all its best weapons: space rockets, ballerinasIn December 1962 an account of the Latin American tour of the Soviet show Beriozka was published, which until then had circulated in 9 countries. Nina Prudovka, “Beriozka,” La Mujer Soviética, December 1962, 15. and, of course, social rights.

In 1962, in the wake of the rapprochement and after resuming diplomatic relations, the Brazilian federal government agreed with the Soviets to organize an industrial exhibition. An eighteen thousand square meter pavilion was set up to exhibit about eleven thousand products, with mockups of nuclear power plants, sputniks replicas, space rockets, cars, tractors, home use devices and fashion shows. The Brazilian magazine Mundo Ilustrado, in its report on the exhibition, stated that on average four thousand people attended the exhibition per day, that it would have been prepared to please the “bourgeois” look and was designed to attract Brazilian businessmen and industrialists. “Rússia Exibe Em São Cristóvão a Utilização Pacífica Do Átomo,” Mundo Ilustrado, 1962. The exhibition itself was full of controversy, with most of the press highlighting the fact that the exhibition was solely for commercial and cultural purposes and not to be used as political propaganda, with a rude gesture “Lacerda Inaugura Exposição Fazendo Duas Descortesias,” Correio Da Manhã, 1962, 16022 edition. by the governor of the state of Guanabara, fierce opposer of the federal government.

The governmental aspirations of that period differed enormously from those observed in members of civil society, such as those found in the Soviet-Brazilian women encounters. The speeches made during the opening of the exhibition made this very transparent. During the inauguration ceremony, the speech of the opposition politician and governor Carlos Lacerda, a fervent anti-communist and agitator of the 1964 coup, focused especially on the issue of freedom, saying that Brazilians are `a people without resentment, with aspirations for a peaceful life within their borders and certainly must show the world their destiny for the Christian faith and love of freedom.' Ulysses Guimarães, representing the central government, spoke for the trade deals, economic development and technical scientific progress between the two countries. Finally, Nicolai Patolichev, the Soviet representation spoke on behalf of Khrushchev for world peace, people's friendship and reminded that Brazil and USSR never had clashes between each other in the past.

Figure 10 - Correio da Manhã newspaper, 1962, Cartoon on the Soviet Exposition

Source: Correio da Manhã (RJ), 1962/Edição 21196(2) May 5 (cover), Untitled.

What is quite clear was the diversity of interests and the internal conflicts expressed in these messages. As the Brazilian government sought to expand its commercial network and boost economic development by establishing relations with the USSR, the Soviets used their merits in economic development to gain sympathy for their policy of “peaceful coexistence” of underdeveloped countries. Did the Soviet government need to have economic relations with the USSR to the point of investing in this kind of propagandistic activity? This is a question that would require a great deal of research to be answered. But what emerged, at least from public statements, was that the USSR was looking more for bilateral relations and diplomatic support than economic profit.

On the other hand, the opposition that later would overthrow the government with accusations of preventing a “communistization” of Brazil, was already using the freedom rhetoric, even if neither social rights nor socialism were in the agenda of the bilateral relations between Brazil and the USSR. This is not surprising, since the ultra-right in Brazil often mistook, on purpose or not, simple social rights that were adopted in several capitalist countries of the world with socialism itself. Finally, it remains to be said that the issue of social rights in relations between governments was marginal or non-existent, in contrast to the frequency with which it appeared in the relationship between civil organizations, such as women's associations.

3.10 Re-establishment of diplomatic relations with a social rights regime

Returning back to the topic on the civil society's reception of Soviet propaganda, some points require close observation. A journalist, who accompanied a delegation of congressmen who visited the USSR to sign an economic agreement in 1961, observed four main aspects of his visit: the diversity of republics, welfare, the arts and women with equal rights. He emphasized the great technical progress, but also the concern to solve the problems of the people, and bold and profound actions in the field of housing, leisure, sport and social assistance. Flavio Pilla, “La Union Soviética Es Impresionante!,” La Mujer Soviética, September 1961, 34-35.

The Brazilian pianist, Flavio Varani, participated in the II Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition in 1962. A brief account by him was published in MS, highlighting the great prowess and cultural level of the Soviet people. The restoration of diplomatic relations was also a possibility to expand the exchange when he said: `I am satisfied infinitely that, thanks to the restoration of diplomatic relations between our countries, cultural relations will expand considerably.'

Seleneh de Medeiros, after her visit to the USSR, published an account in the April 1963 edition, in which she highlighted the achievements in the field of education and culture of the Soviet system for the people of Kazakhstan, repeating the civilizing character in the narrative on social rights which I exposed in the first chapter. She also expressed her happiness with the resumption of diplomatic relations which, according to her, `has provided and will provide more and more mutual advantages of political, social, economic, and commercial character, if not also it will stimulate the cultural exchange between the two peoples, an exchange that will constitute a new contribution to what all of us most yearn for: a new era of esteem and mutual respect for the world.' Seleneh de Medeiros, “Corazones Que Laten al Unisono,” La Mujer Soviética, Abril 1963, 28.

Two trends here are particularly visible. One is the great expectations with the resumption of diplomatic relations in both countries and the benefit that this could bring to Brazil. The other is the open, or sometimes expressed in a collateral way, recognition of Soviet development in terms of social rights and achievements in the fields of education, health, labor, housing, culture, etc.

Post-1957 reception: Simon Says or Chinese whispers?

After the closure in 1957 of the Federation of Brazilian Women as the national organization representing women in Brazil, the SWC seems to have had to resort to regional organizations to represent the country in international events. A presumably general letter was sent to different labor unions in Brazil inviting to the V World Congress of Women which would take place in July 1963, in the city of Moscow. SWC, “Soviet Women's Committee to Women's Section of Trade Unions in Brazil,” 1963, f. P7928 op. 3 d. 1084, l. 11., GARF. A terribly adulatory response was received from the Women's Department of the Graphical Industries Trade Union of São Paulo. In their response they said: `The Soviet Woman, a masterly product of the glorious Soviet state, marches at the forefront of contemporary stunt. And the Brazilian woman strives to assimilate such a high example, in order to contribute to the achievement of the aspirations of all the peoples of the world.' It seemed that the intention to provoke a sense of grandeur and admiration through propaganda had demonstrated its goal along these lines, which clearly evoked the aforementioned asymmetrical term of these connections. It is also noticeable that a preponderant role was given to the state, in understanding Soviet women as a first quality product developed by the state. In this response was perceptible the mimicry of the Soviet propaganda lexicon and the use of exaggerated adjectives, such as “glorious”, “masterly”, and “high”. The formal orthodoxy expressed in such response, however, was contrasting to the again syncretic views perceptible in other documents.

When asked about the agenda of the congress, the SWC answered `the struggle of women for their rights in society and in the family, for peace, disarmament, friendship between peoples, national independence and the education of children and young people.' SWC, “Soviet Women Committee to Mimi Batista,” 1963, f. P7928 op. 3 d. 1084, l. 6, GARF. But the understanding of some of the recipients was not quite the same as the original message. Mimi Batista, while apparently agreeing with the Soviet message and suggesting that they were in the cause together, said: `To the Soviet Women's Committee, committed like us Brazilians in the struggle to build a better world, a world of peace and brotherhood, where it speaks louder than the weapons of destruction, the love to one another, that will then bring to humanity the world in which we dream, of justice, equality, finally a world, only the world of the people.' Mimi Batista, “Mimi Batista to the Soviet Women's Committee,” 1963, f. P7928 op. 3 d. 1084, l. 8, GARF. One can clearly visualize again the tenuous difference, while the Soviet message was more direct in a sense that it was an actual agenda of social rights, peace and independence, Batista's speech was filled with more general and romantic values of love, a “better world”, and brotherhood, demonstrating another sample of syncretic understanding of the Soviet messages.

In a way, no opposing differences were declared with the narrative present in the Soviet propaganda, even though they have sinuous interpret distinctions. The most visible trend was the use of the USSR and social rights there as a living example of the possibility of implementing such rights in other parts of the world. But as far as the lines of action were concerned, there was formal agreement with the SWC on the struggle for peace, disarmament, women's rights, children's rights, etc. Sometimes it sounded like obedience. `Here in Brazil, we are at your orders,' wrote Clara Charf, in a 1963 letter Clara Charf, “Clara Charf to the Soviet Women's Committee,” November 4, 1963, f. P7928 op. 3 d. 1084, l. 55, GARF., but as we have seen, domestic reality was more prevalent.

Tsaritsa Valentina: a product made from humble people by the finest technology

In June 1963, the USSR sent cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova into space. On her return, she was not only a military woman assigned a task, but as a public person, responsible for becoming a symbol of Soviet conquests in space. More than that, she became a symbol of the social progress built in Soviet society. Her “mission” then became much more political and social, participating in public events such as the already mentioned V World Congress of Women held in Moscow. On this occasion, a delegation of 55 Brazilian women to the congress gifted Valentina Tereshkova with a silver tiara made with stone flowers embedded to it, made especially by the craftsman Caio Mourão to represent the union between Brazilian popular art and Russian folklore. The article called her tsarina of the cosmos and refer to this gift as her “coronation.” La Delegación Brasileña, “El Brasil Coronó a Valentina,” La Mujer Soviética, Agosto 1963, 09. In a short note that recounted the impressions of women from various countries on Valentina, Heloneida Studart, Heloneida Studart was journalist and writter, and that time she reported to be really close to PCB, but only joined the Party after 1964. Heloneida Studart, Heloneida Studart (depoimento, 1999), 2003, CPDOC/ALERJ. member of the Brazilian delegation said: `Here is a woman who detached herself from Earth, flew to the Cosmos, and then returned to Earth again. She is so calm, so simple and so modest as if she did not differentiate herself from us, as if she did the most usual task...' Heloneida Studart, “Valentina, Simbolo de La Mujer Liberada,” La Mujer Soviética, September 1963, 23.

Figure 11 - Note El Brasil coronó a Valentina

Source: La Mujer Soviética, 1963, nº 08, p. 09

This quotation shows us that in addition to the obvious conclusion about the use of Valentina's person as a symbol of women's liberation and as a direct product of the Soviet system, a simultaneous process of identification and asymmetry occurred. That is, at the same time that the person of Valentina inspired an identification, as “one of us”, she simultaneously marked an asymmetry because she detached herself from the “us” to become something more, something superior, advanced. Human beings, specifically women of humble origin, as a raw material “common” to different contexts, by being transformed by the technology of social rights, had become something more.

The SWC received many letters saluting Valentina's flight to space. A letter from a southerner Brazilian, Mimi Batista, in June 1963, expressed clearly how this event was perceived outside of the USSR: `This achievement beyond the general significance of the victory of science and humanity in the conquest of the universe, also represents a great victory for women in the struggle for their political, social and economic emancipation' Mimi Batista, “Mimi Batista to the Soviet Women's Committee,” Letter, June 17, 1963, f. 7928 op. 3 d. 1084, l. 21, GARF. The Soviet purpose of sending a woman into space to advertise female emancipation seems to have been achieved, at least by the closest spectators who cultivated sympathy for the USSR. It is interesting to note that, while the narrative behind Gagarin's flight was much more of an achievement of humanity in scientific and technological terms, in Valentina's flight, the socioeconomic aspect gained much greater prominence. The particularity lies in the fact that, in this event, the social conquest of sending a woman into space was detached from the machinery, technology, astrophysics and rocket science: according to this narrative, it was much more the social rights that sent Valentina on her flight than all the space paraphernalia.

However, the significance of Valentina's cosmic flight did not make her land in an Olympus inaccessible to the common people, because the return to Earth made her personality preserve the aspect of identification with the “earthlings” while it also projected some universality stands. The return trip was not only highlighted by Studart, but also by Leda Acquarone in one of her children's stories published in MS. `Shortly thereafter, the radio reported that the cosmic couple had landed happily at the intended location. We finally breathed a sigh of relief and our hearts returned to their normal dimensions.' Leda Acquarone de Sá, “Valentina y... El Pastel de Chocolate,” La Mujer Soviética, October 1963, 40. The narrative evidently sought to connect the daily life of the women and their usually domestic work with Valentina's achievement: `Mom had the same glow in her eyes that I had noticed in my teacher's, in my older sister's, and in general in the eyes of all the women I had seen on the street. When Mom came in with the cake, it seemed like she had come back from space too.' Sá, 40.

Soviet social rights technology: from role model to direct assistance

Other articles in MS reinforced the argument that the interest of the Brazilian public in the USSR had a great relationship with the situation of social rights and how they were exercised. The differential seemed to be not necessarily only in the quality or advancement in a certain area, but in its particular combination with other aspects. For example, a Brazilian journalist, Yvonne Jean, Yvonne Jean was a member of PCB and later was persecuted by the Military Regime. signed an article published in October 1963 in the MS magazine that narrated her correspondence with Emma Wolf, chief editor of the Spanish version of the magazine. In this article she reported her correspondence with Wolf, describing some innovative pedagogical methods of a school that operated in Rio de Janeiro, but the publisher declined her article saying that no one would be interested in a school where only children from privileged families could study, because such an institution was private. Yvonne Jean, “«El Beso de Una Joven, El Aroma Del Trigo, y El Sol Nasciente»,” La Mujer Soviética, October 1963, 28. Free education for all thus appeared as a kind of non-negotiable principle, no matter the high quality of the educational techniques used in the formation of the child.

But the article brought other relevant elements: the first was self-criticism, in which the author said she understood the reasons for Wolf's first negative; the second was to present that the educational model of the school-park was incorporated into the system of the city of Brasilia, signaling at the same time the brand new federal capital as also a point of social progress and development that was inspired by the principle of chargeless services defended by the Soviet messages; finally, several declarations of faith in the feasibility of social justice after a visit to Moscow were mentioned: `It was one of those emotions that spring up suddenly when we see that happiness is possible on our Earth. [...] it was for me the verification that there are happy children in the world, and that is the realization of an act of simple justice' Jean, 28.

In addition, the interest of the Brazilian public in the issue of social rights was verified in an article written this time by a Soviet author, but which was motivated by a letter from a Brazilian questioning the existence of medical assistance in rural areas. The answer was precisely in the form of a photo-reportage in which she stated that 'All our people enjoy highly qualified and free medical assistance.' She employed a narrative that did not focus on the central regions of the USSR, but brought examples and cases of medical assistance within the Kolkhozes themselves from places like Turkmenistan and Armenia, using lyrical details about ambulances passing through deserts, crossing mountains and complex surgeries being performed within villages. Irina Volk, “La Medicina En La Aldea,” La Mujer Soviética, September 1961, 27. Everything is yet another example of how social rights are expressed in a particular form of technology that can be “sold”, an arrangement built by the Soviet system to serve as a model. But this is something we already know from the analyses in the previous chapter. What may be new is not so much the answer as the question.

The author of the question highlighted the issue of medical assistance in the rural environment. It is possible that he himself was a peasant or someone from the countryside, so this question became relevant. Brazil as a predominantly agrarian country has always concentrated in its rural areas, as reminiscences of slavery and colonialism, a high contingent of poverty, with concentration of illiterate people and absence of public services, among them, health care. It is possible that such questioning to the MS editors had been motivated by a type of analogical thinking. That is, an analogy between conditions in Brazil and the USSR, in which both were countries of continental proportions, with isolated points of difficult access.

Whether as a source of inspiration, as a model of society to be followed or as a kind of fortress of equality, the USSR was also sought by Brazilians for material support in cases of need. In SWC's archives it was possible to find a correspondence that was sent by Brazilians requesting medical help, for example. A letter asking for help from 1962 send by the FMB, with medical reports attached, described the character and dedication of Emilie Kamprad to the women's emancipation cause. FMB, “Federation of Brazilian Women to the Soviet Women's Committee,” 1962, f. P7289 op. 2 d. 663 l. 11, GARF. The Committee was very solicitous and resourceful, and forwarded the letter to the Ministry of Health. In a letter from Lydia da Cunha to Natasha, she mentioned another participant of the women's movement which was already having some treatment in Soviet facilities. Lydia da Cunha, “Lydia Da Cunha to Natasha Berezhnaya,” February 7, 1962, f. P7289 op. 2 d. 663 l. 34, GARF. Another Brazilian named Angela Barbosa, studying in the German Democratic Republic, asked for support for the medical treatment of her son who could not find a solution in Berlin. Angela Barbosa, “Angela Barbosa to the Soviet Women's Committee,” 1961, f. P7289 op. 2 d. 663 l. 36, GARF.

Occasionally, they would ask for financial support to attend congresses, or with financial support to conduct technical-cultural exchanges. This, of course, must have had generated interest, as was the case with a federation of women from the state of Rio Grande do Sul, which requested support to send people to learn pedagogical methods in the USSR for the purpose of applying them in an assistance institution that was being created by them. FMG, “Federation of Gaucho Women to the Soviet Women's Committee,” 1962, f. P7289 op. 2 d. 663 l. 20-21, GARF.

3.11 La Mujer Soviética and its connections in Brazil

After this exposition of cases of how the MS magazine was received by the Brazilian public it is safe to say that it had a complex network of agents of different ideological spectrums, with different approaches of militancy. The MS magazine concentrated and centralized information and interlocutions not only with women and not only with communists, but a wide range of political and social sectors. The image below is an attempt to provide a visual synthesis of this network:

In this chart, I divide the different agents into seven categories represented by the different colors: International Women's Movement; Brazilian Women's Movement; Soviet Women's Movement; Peace Movement; Cultural Diplomacy; Brazilian Labor Movement; and Communist Movement. These actors, while not being necessarily communists or revolutionaries, still playing a role in the Cold War had their own agenda and their own projects, and later were persecuted by the militaries as if they were agents of Soviet Russia. It is important to note that many of the agents could be classified into more than one category and so I chose to define them according to their main activity or for a better visualization of contrasts and interrelationships. The points have a size proportional to the number of links found. The links, however, have no specified value or quality and can be from friendship, political affiliation, correspondence, etc. Even so, all links are justified in sources used for this work.



Figure 12 - Network of relationship between Brazil and USSR, taking the magazine La Mujer Soviética as starting point

Naturally, as the main reference point for weaving this network of relationships is based on the MS magazine, it gains a prominent role. It is observable, however, that the relations between Brazilians and Soviets had a polycentric character, and that in no way were they limited to the communist or female movement exclusively. A broader research on the relations between Brazil and the USSR, which encompasses state diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, economic, scientific and technological exchange should show this. Nevertheless, the most obvious conclusion possible from this research is that even in its niche, the MS magazine maintained a diversity of relations with agents who shared the aspiration to build in Brazil a state of affairs in which individuals acquired social rights analogous to those enjoyed by the Soviets.

Fear and defeat of social rights activists in Brazil

A significant distress on the part of Brazilian women was noticeable in the content of the correspondence, something that did not appear so latent in the mentions to Brazil in the magazine. The affliction is due to the increasing polarization of Brazilian society and the conflict between nationalists and entreguists. The conservative and entreguists sector with special and direct support from the US had intensified anti-communist propaganda and allegations of Brazil's submission to Russia, using in 1962, for example, even acts of terrorism. A bomb was planted in São Cristóvão (near Rio de Janeiro), on the occasion of the Soviet Industrial Exhibition that took place that year. The report of the magazine O Mundo Ilustrado claimed that three terrorist attacks were accounted since Brazil and Soviet Union resumed their diplomatic relations. Adriano Barbosa, “Tragédia, Farsa Ou Comédia Com Bomba- Relógio,” Mundo Ilustrado, 1962.

Figure 13 - First page of the article reporting the dismantled terrorist attack against the Soviet exhibition, O Mundo Ilustrado, 1962

Source: O Mundo Ilustrado (RJ) 1962, issue 00231. Barbosa.

Clara Charf expressed her concern in a letter of 1963. She mentioned two historical events from 1963: the sergeants' revolt that somehow premeditated the April 1964 coup, and President Jango's request to Congress for State of Siege approval which was refused. As one who gives satisfaction to superiors, she reports that after their participation in the World Congress of Women of that year, they were giving several lectures in different parts of Brazil to discuss the situation of life and the rights of women in the USSR, informing that they were preparing a pamphlet on the 15 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and complained that they had not received materials on the rights of Soviet women and children. Charf, “Clara Charf to Fanny,” November 3, 1963.

Concern about the development with the domestic politics was tightly connected to the focus on social rights, as well as requests to the Soviets to provide literature on the subject. After the April 1964 coup, a journalist named Flora Bastos lamented in an article published in MS that the repression was aimed precisely at those people who were involved in struggles to expand social rights. Flora Bastos, “Lo Que Ha Ocurrido En Brasil,” La Mujer Soviética, September 1964, 18.

An article on the 1964 military coup described in some biographical way the persecution of political and social leaders, artistic personalities, parliamentarians and journalists who were part of this complex and diverse network of agents that maintained relations with the USSR. Elisa Branco, Graciliano Ramos, Maria Della Costa, they were all arrested and persecuted for having 'expressed patriotic opinions', 'fought for their rights and for better living conditions.' Bastos ended her article in an optimistic tone, stating that the people's conscience had grown a lot and that the entreguist policy would be defeated with the regrouping of democratic forces. Bastos, “Lo Que Ha Ocurrido En Brasil,” 19. The Military Dictatorship in Brazil lasted 21 years, tortured more than 20 thousand people, the number of dead and missing persons totaled 434 and 4841 representatives elected by the people lost their mandates.



Conclusion

The most reasonable conclusion one can draw from this research is the confirmation of the initial hypothesis. The Soviet Union transmitted to the world a set values self-proclaimed democratic and progressive, a different polity paradigm on how society should be organized with the needs of the individual provided by the state. This paradigm cannot be simplified as socialism, because its encompassing nature sought to incorporate even capitalist states, in contrast to the liberal polity paradigm. But even the confirmation of this initial hypothesis seems to be a still a limited conclusion near the evidence found. That the USSR dissolved to some degree the strictly revolutionary character of its propaganda abroad, in favor of broad communication in content, is something already commonly observed. However, even reduced, a defense of the revolution in the content of its messages to the Brazilian public, especially after the Cuban revolution of 1959, is noticeable in the revolutionary seizure of power, the expropriation of the means of production and the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat did not conform the essential core of Soviet propaganda. What was permanent, which remained more stable was the spread of an ideology in favor of social rights and state guarantees. A polity paradigm that advocated the positive action of the State for the collective well-being of the people. In Lukacsian Lukács, Socialismo E Democratização: Escritos Políticos 1956-1971 [Socialism And Democratization: Political Writings 1956-197], 112-13. terms, the Soviet propaganda engendered an ideology, therefore, of freedom from necessity, that is, a freedom that flourishes from the ineliminable realm of necessity. The freedom of wanting is always limited to material needs. The exercise of true freedom is thus associated with the provision of material conditions. Provided, individuals are safe and free to develop themselves as whole and their own individuality.

In this work I also coined the narrative resource of Soviet propaganda to create a special mystique of social rights as a form of technology. The social rights technology used narrative and visual instruments to break down the different material needs and the mechanisms by which they were met and reorganize them with the appearance of a new state-driven complex. A diversity of applications, universal access, and state funds were the keynote of this narrative to captivate its readers.

The satisfaction of material needs appeared both through the language employed and through visual elements. It was frequent inside the MS texts to find long lists of devices created and implemented to satisfy such needs. Houses, hospitals, clinics, sanatoriums, day care centers, schools, universities, theaters, cinemas, cultural palaces, libraries, galleries, parks, squares, canteens, subways, buses... The only thing that separated one dimension of the realm of need from another were commas. Visually, the social rights apparatuses were displayed in the reports with a variety of small photos that portrayed each one of them in a way that resembles a consumer goods catalogue.

This was a fundamental aspect of how social rights were treated in the Soviet propaganda present in MS, in a quantifiable and countable way. The recipients of the propaganda, when referring directly to the USSR sometimes repeated this view in which everything was very numerous, sometimes even with a certain discomfort, as in the case of Graciliano Ramos. However, even with this hyperbolic expression of the quantity of things to supply the population's demands, one quality was fundamental one. The most important quality of how these services were described was the gratuitous and universal access. This was a fundamental mystique that revolutionized the combination of various devices in a new complex, in another technology constituted to satisfy human needs. This, which may seem relatively trivial to contemporary spectators, has actually caught the attention of the Brazilian public and was often mentioned as a unique feature.

Finally, the recipients of such messages, it seems, have actually absorbed them in their own way. Some in a syncretic way, reading the idea of material guarantees as a principle of love of neighbor, brotherhood, or even associated with Christianity, so strong in that tropical country. Others read in a more orthodox way, such as orders or lessons said by a superior people that needed to be learned by them.

To take a review of the integrations found, in terms of the approach taken by Global History, it is clear that the USSR had a large influence under the social movements of the time, functioning as a model in terms of social rights for some, or as an object of admiration and veneration for others. It is not possible, with the material found, to identify direct global causalities Conrad, What Is Global History, 90. between what preached Soviet propaganda and the emergence of a social state in Brazil. Perhaps this task was generically accomplished by Quigley with regard to Western Europe in particular. This was because the emergence in Brazil of something that, at least constitutionally, projected itself as a social state, came to appear decades later in 1988, when in several parts of the world this paradigm was giving place to what many today call neo-liberalism and the USSR itself was in decline.

The constitution of a social state in Brazil, as said, was interrupted by the military coup of 1964 and with it, the Soviet influence decreased in proportion to the retreat of the Brazilian political forces with which they maintained relations. To carry out such a task, it would be necessary to make a genealogy of the social movements, political leaderships and parties that led the struggles against the dictatorship and played a leading role in the approval of the constitution that created many of the social rights then defended in the 1950s and 1960s. Perhaps this would make it possible to find out whether the Soviet propaganda left any trace of its past influence.

What is more conclusive, however, is that Soviet social rights propaganda has been widely used as a weapon for domestic battles, both in the field of social rights in general and in the rights of women and children. Social rights were not a Soviet invention, but were driven by the USSR. Perhaps it is not risky to say that if socialism has failed for the time being, social rights have prospered and have become an important part of the human experiences of the modern world.

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Abstract

This work aims to analyze how social rights appeared in Soviet propaganda for Brazil between 1950 and 1964. It is a case study that uses as its main source the Spanish version of the magazine Soviet Woman (La Mujer Soviética), written and published by the Soviet Women's Committee (SWC). For this analysis, a Global History approach is used in order to highlight the connections between the SWC and its Brazilian counterparts, especially the leadership of the Federation of Brazilian Women (FMB). From the Global History perspective, this case study is situated in the context of the intense transformations experienced by the Global South during the post-war and early years of the Cold War. Such transformations, entangled in the dispute between the socialist and capitalist blocs, have engendered in countries like Brazil a set of social aspirations for development, progress and independence that have taken on different meanings depending on political trends and according to the mindset of the actors involved. The main result was that great importance was given to social rights and the role of the state in their provision. The evidence found strengthened the main argument that the Soviet propaganda sought to transmit a polity paradigm. This paradigm, while opposing the liberal capitalist one, structurally encompassed capitalist societies through social rights and the role of the state, pushing the creation of social states around the world. The reception of such propaganda in Brazil happened simultaneously in a syncretic and orthodox way, the former combining the Soviet narrative of social rights with idealized, romantic and even Christian visions; while the latter demonstrated orthodoxy and mimicry of the typical Soviet vocabulary. However, it is not possible to state that there were direct causalities between the emergence of social rights in the Brazilian constitutional framework and the influence of Soviet propaganda in Brazil, as the military coup of 1964 interrupted the ongoing democratic process and persecuted those affiliated to the paradigm propagated

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