Beyond knuckle-draggers obeying orders: the men of repression in the Vargas Era

Abstract

We intend to shed light on the men who made up the repressive apparatus of Vargas, specifically, the Delegacia Especial de SegurançaPolítica e Social. This analysis will be based on the data obtained in police reports, reserved newsletters, documentation concerning public tenders for police positions, reports and letters from candidates sent to the Ministry of Justice, crossed collectively by means of a prosopography.We aim to elucidate the social origins of the agents responsible for political and social control established between 1930 and 1945; the attractiveness of police career to these social strata, the power and status enjoyed through the authority conferred by the Police Station, and permissiveness to exercise violence stemming from the anti-liberal, anti-communist development project imposed through fear, xenophobia and nationalism.Having regard to the origins of these military and police officers, acting on the front line of political and social repression brought about social advancement, institutional distinction, legal or extralegal financial gains and enjoyment through the direct exercise of violence, leading them to actively assume the state’s repressive demand beyond the simple act of "following orders".