SURVIVING IS NEEDED

TACTICS OF ARMED LEFT MILITANTS APPRISED AT THE PAULO SARASATE PENAL INSTITUTE (IPPS) DURING THE CIVIL-MILITARY DICTATORSHIP

Abstract

Disabled in 2013, the Paulo Satasate Penal Institute (IPPS) served as a political prison during the civil-military dictatorship (1964-85). In prison, the military government sought to punish, isolate and control its political enemies. In practice, that was not the case. From the notion of tactics, the French historian Michel de Certeau, the article deals with political prisoners sought loopholes within the prison structure for rights and better living conditions. There was interest on the part of the IPPS directors in a less-tense relationship with the political prisoners, who were few in number and of the middle class, had some social influence. With less friction, in a complex prison to manage, the directors could stay longer in the coveted position. It was through this gap that political prisoners began to move behind better conditions of existence in prisons. Vigilated by the dictatorship, they used this element in their favor, claiming for their own benefit the legality of the dictatorial legal system itself.