Carlos Chagas na "guerra dos rios": a passagem da comissão do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz pelo rio Iaco (Alto Purus, território federal do Acre, 1913)

André Vasques Vital

doi:10.1590/s0104-59702018000100004

André Vasques Vital

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-59702018000100004

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Abstract

The writing of the Relatório sobre as condições médico-sanitárias do vale do Amazonas (Report on the medical and sanitary conditions in the Amazon Valley) is analyzed from the perspective of the macro- and micropolitical implications of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz's expedition to the departments in the federal territory of Acre. The analysis focuses on the interactions between Carlos Chagas, Pacheco Leão, and João Pedroso and judges, doctors, and rubber barons from the Yaco and Caeté rivers at the town of Sena Madureira, capital of Alto Purus, in January 1913. The scientific report was also influenced by the contact the commission members had with the major players in the rubber industry and their resulting immersion in local and regional political conflicts.

Highlights

The year 1912 was marked by the outbreak of the rubber crisis – a direct consequence of the successful attempt by the botanist Henry Wickham, with British state sponsorship, to smuggle Hevea brasiliensis seeds out of Brazil in 1876
On August 14, 1911, the key elements of the Rubber Defense Plan (Plano de Defesa da Borracha) were debated and on January 5, 1912, National Congress approved the creation of the Department for the Defense of Rubber (Superintendência de Defesa da Borracha) and the Rubber Defense Plan
The plan provided economic incentives for the planting of Hevea brasiliensis, healthcare services for migrants going to work in the rubber industry, and the building of a railroad between the capitals of the administrative departments in Acre, amongst other measures (Brasil, 1912, p.153-167)

Summary

Introduction

The year 1912 was marked by the outbreak of the rubber crisis – a direct consequence of the successful attempt by the botanist Henry Wickham, with British state sponsorship, to smuggle Hevea brasiliensis seeds out of Brazil in 1876. Attention is drawn to the fact that the commission must have travelled through the settlement of Boca do Caeté on their way to Sena Madureira, but neither the handwritten texts nor the later versions of the report make any mention of this, the stronghold of the Yaco river rubber barons’ political enemies.

Results

Conclusion