"The path of reconciliation": remarks on the episodes of public retraction carried out by activists who fought the dictatorship in Brazil (1970-1975)

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the public retractation processes protagonized by members of left-wing organizations which fought against the Brazilian civil-military dictatorship. Getting known as regrets, such episodes had beginning in May 1970, when five young men bound to the “Vanguarda Popular Revolucionária” released two manifestos, in which they denied the existence of torture, exalted the regime main accomplishments and appealed the youth to not join the struggle against the dictatorship. Thenceforth, several depositions begun to be published in Brazilian newspapers and television networks. Throughout this paper, we intend to comprehend how such episodes were planned and were inserted in the government repression and propaganda logic.