20. The Prestes Column

The first thing I must say is that my opinion is highly suspicious over this theme. The fact is that I'm a great admirer of Luiz Carlos Prestes and despite myself I can help being biased towards him. I prefer being honest about this point so that you, reader, feel comfortable to search for more information over this issue elsewhere.

This is especially important because the Prestes Column is a polemic chapter in Brazilian history. Some argue it was pointless and caused a great damage along the cities it went through. The latter probably is true – all wars always have unwanted effects that usually make innocents suffer. Imagine 1500 men, most of them with no formal neither military education, hunted like animals within the primitive countryside of Brazil? Unfortunately, rapes, thefts and murders happened despite all the efforts of the column commanders to avoid it.

About the former, I am not so sure. According to the author of the book, Neill Macaulay – who (later on it was discovered) was a spy - the objective of the column was never the impossible military victory (what a bunch of barely armed men could do against the government forces?), but to work in a symbolic way, to function as an example of political resistance. In this regard, it worked and works until today, since it's one of the few social movements in Brazil that might be considered national (i.e., that involved the whole country, from North to South, in comparison with restricted, regional movements) and that so far is capable of touching people's heart.

Probably this resistance of the myth around the Prestes Column and it's main leader is the reason why so many people enjoy degrading their significance. Some of these try to attribute the crimes of the column's soldiers to its captain, but finds an obstacle in the conduct of Luiz Carlos Prestes along his 92 years of existence. Of course the man was not a saint, he was not the perfect hero Jorge Amado described in his books, but one cannot deny that he was an incorruptible and idealistic sort of man.

In Macaulay's book, it is said that Luiz Carlos Prestes once affirmed that “the man who seduced a virgin should be shot”. Considering he was a chaste man (he lost his virginity at 37 and had only two women along his whole life), who respected a lot the other sex, I guess he meant it. He was also an honest man who never used politics to gain personal favours (he died without having ever had a “cpf” - document equivalent to the social security number - neither a bank account). This is probably the main reason why so many people respect him despite his unsuccessful attempts to undertake a social revolution in Brazil.