A Tribuna do Povo, Maria Aragão e o PCB: recepção e difusão das ideias comunistas no Maranhão entre 1945 e 1955

Abstract

The Maranhão newspaper Tribuna do Povo (1945-1962) was founded and directed by the Maranhão communist Maria Aragão (1910-1991), in a context of reorganization of the bases of the Brazilian Communist Party (PCB) in Maranhão, when nationally, the party enjoyed a brief period of legality post-World War II. Aragão was also a leader of the PCB in the state. Built by and aimed at workers and their demands, Tribuna reflected on the socio-political dynamics at the state, national, and international levels, fostering the political organization of the working classes. The aim of this work is to investigate the activities of Tribuna during its first ten years (1945-1955), revealing elements of its organizational structure and scrutinizing the entirety of its publications. To achieve this, starting from historical perspectives for the analysis of political thought, we resort to documentary research and bibliographical research. As a result, the work identifies Tribuna as the press organ of the PCB in Maranhão, receiving and disseminating its theses and guidelines and acting as the official communication organ of the party in Maranhão. In favor of the workers, without abandoning the PCB's theoretical frameworks of Third Internationalist origin, and with the decisive role of Maria Aragão at the forefront of the newspaper, where she played the role of a political and intellectual protagonist, Tribuna influenced the political struggles of its time. Within the scope of the circulation of communist ideas, the Tribuna was established, during the period covered by our research, as the main support (both as an organization and material means) for the reception, appropriation, and dissemination of the communist ideas of the PCB in Maranhão. At the same time, Maria Aragão was established as the main individual (as a person) for the reception, appropriation, and dissemination of these ideas in the state. Thus, from a broader perspective, the communist weekly from Maranhão and Maria Aragão were part of this complex whole that was and is the circulation of Marxist ideas in Maranhão, in Brazil, and in Latin America.