“Soldiers” and citizens in the rainforest
Brazilian rubber tappers during World War II
Keywords:
Amazon, rubber soldiers, rural strugglesAbstract
With the advent of World War II, the Amazon region is called upon to collaborate with the Allies in what came to be known as the “latex battle”. Thousands of Northeasterners and other men coming from different corners in Brazil are drafted to participate in the war effort as “rubber soldiers”. This article reviews the role played by such rubber tappers during the wartime as well as the role played both by government institutions and the financial agencies in the Brazilian-North-American agreement for the production of latex. With the end of the conflict, these men were left to fend for themselves until the 80s when Chico Mendes came to their rescue launching his struggle on behalf of the rainforest people.
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Copyright (c) 2012 Seth Garfield
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A Somanlu: Revista de Estudos Amazônicos faz uso de licença Creative Commons de atribuição (CC BY 4.0)
