ARTICLE

by: Caio Navarro de Toledo

The Totem Plaque inaugurated by the Rectory in a public ceremony on March 17th is, in my opinion, a historic milestone in the political life of the State University of Campinas. In addition to honoring the members of the academic community who were punished by the military dictatorship (1964-1985), the work installed in Praça das Bandeiras also symbolizes a clear repudiation of the coups against the democratic rule of law.

Called “´Recognition, Memory and Historical Truth” the Totem Plaque was the solution found by the Rectory in order to meet one of the Recommendations of the Final Report of the Truth and Memory Commission “Octávio Ianni”1; Through this Recommendation, the Commission requested that the Rectory produce an artistic artifact that questioned the honorable mention made, in an extensive Panel at Praça das Bandeiras, to the military coup leader Mal. Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco.

In a democratic manner, the CGU – in response to a document addressed to the Rectory (signed by 35 professors from various units of the University) – invited a commission of signatories to examine the matter in a meeting. During the conversation, a proposal made by the Rectory to build a Totem Plaque on the campus was approved; At the same meeting, the CGU asked the teaching committee to prepare a text to be included in work 2.

Recognition and tribute            

Through this initiative, Unicamp makes public its recognition and pays tribute to two types of members of our community:

a) All those who were linked to the University when they suffered punishments due to injunctions or pressure from the military regime. These acts manifested themselves in different ways: arrests, torture, persecution and removal.

In the Final Report of Truth and Memory Commission at Unicamp, almost all of these members are mentioned. They were:

Ademir Gebara, Alberto Pelegrini Filho, Alberto Zeitune (in memoriam), Alcides Mamizuka, Álvaro Caropreso, Anamaria Testa Tambellini, Antônio Sérgio da Silva Arouca (in memoriam), Cristina Possas, Edson Corrêa da Silva, Eduardo Maia de Carvalho Freese, Eleonora Machado Freire (in memoriam), Elisabeth Moreira dos Santos, Francisco Eduardo Campos, Francisco Viacava, Gustavo Zimmermann, Hélio Rodrigues, João Aidar Filho, Joaquim Alberto Cardoso de Melo (in memoriam), José Augusto Cabral de Barros, José Eduardo Passos Jorge, José Rubens de Alcântara Bonfim, José Welmovick, Lais Tolentino, Luiz Antonio Vasconcelos, Luiz Carlos Toledo, Marilia Bernardes Marques, Osvaldo de Oliveira, Raimundo Araujo dos Santos (in memoriam), Rodolpho Caniato, Rosali Ziller de Araújo, Rubens Murillo Marques and Simão Lukowiecki (in memoriam).     

b) All other members of the academic community who – before joining Unicamp staff – suffered some type of sanctions by the military regime.

This specific tribute has an unequivocal political and educational significance: during the 21 years of the discretionary regime, Unicamp was an institution that, fearlessly and without hesitation, opened its doors to dozens of people who were persecuted and punished by the terror policy implemented. by the military dictatorship. This category includes those who have been arrested, tortured, politically exiled and removed from their public functions.

Clarifying that the list below is not exhaustive, the following members of the academic community would fall into this situation:

Álvaro Caropreso, Ana Fonseca, Ana Valderez (in memoriam), Ângela Araujo, Ângela Soligo, Antônio Carlos de Oliveira, Benito Damasceno, Bento Prado Ferraz Junior (in memoriam), Bernardino Figueiredo, Carlos Alberto Lobão, Carlos Eduardo Viegas da Silva, Carlos Estevam Martins (in memoriam), Carlos Lessa, Claudio Torres (in memoriam), Clovis Goldemberg (in memoriam), Dilma Rousseff, Elza Berquó (in memoriam), Frederico Mazzucchelli, Helena de Freitas, Izabel Marson, João Quartim de Moraes, Jorge Baptista Filho (in memoriam), Jorge Mattoso, José Serra, Leda Gitahy, Liana Aureliano, Lourdes Sola, Luiz Carlos Freitas, José Luiz Paes Nunes, José Machado, José Tomaselli, Leslie Denise Beloche, Lúcio Flávio Rodrigues de Almeida, Luiz Carlos Cintra, Luiz Werneck Vianna, Lylia Guedes Galetti, Maria Lygia Quartim de Moraes, Marcelo Moreira Ganzarolli, Marco Aurélio Garcia, Maurício Tragtenberg (in memoriam), Nelson Rodrigues dos Santos, Ondina da Silva Pregnolatto, Osvair Vidal Trevisan, Paulo Freire (in memoriam), Paulo Roberto Beskow, Paulo Renato de Souza (in memoriam), Raul Pont, Renato Dagnino, Robêni Baptista da Costa, Roberto Romano da Silva, Roberto Schwarz, Sandra Negraes Brisolla (in memoriam), Sebastião Velasco e Cruz, Sérgio Salazar, Sérgio Silva, Sônia Draibe, Sílvio de Alencastro Pregnolatto, Vilma Barban, Waldir Quadros, Waldir Ribeiro Gallo and Zenaide Machado.

In the public session that honored members of the academic community who fought against the illegitimacy of the military regime, Unicamp reiterated its permanent commitment to critical thinking, historical truth and the values ​​of democracy.

In a lucid and consistent way, the Rectory understood that, instead of destroying the Panel that commemorates the presence of an important leader of the 1964 coup on the Unicamp campus, it was necessary to erect a plaque through which it was made clear that the “Mr President of the Republic Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco” was, in fact, a prominent military man who bore great responsibility for the crimes of the 1964 regime.

The installation of the Totem Plaque in the campus reveals – as the text transcribed in it states – that Unicamp is in tune with all initiatives of a symbolic nature, inside and outside Brazilian academic circles, which, today, repudiate any tribute paid to anyone who has supported the acts and violence perpetrated by the dictatorship military.

1 The Final Report can be accessed on the website: https://www.comissaoverdade.unicamp.br/

2 The text is as follows:

“Through this Plaque, Unicamp pays tribute to the men and women of the academic community who, fighting for redemocratization, suffered physical and moral violence during the long period of the military dictatorship.

The military man Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, dignified in the extensive panel to the side, played a decisive role in the coup d'état that overthrew the democratic government of João Goulart (1961-1964) and in the implementation of the military dictatorship. As evidenced by countless historical research and the work of the National Truth Commission, the five military governments (1964-1985) caused profound damage to the country's economy, education, culture and environment, being responsible for serious violations of human rights. human rights (arrests, torture, disappearances and deaths) and the systematic curtailment of democratic freedoms. This plaque also fulfills the necessary function of repudiating any tribute paid to those who supported such crimes.”

The Placa-Totem project was designed by architect Flavia Brito Garboggini.