“A new Brazil”: The construction of the trans-Amazonian highway in the pages of Manchete magazine

Abstract

In a special edition published in February 1973, Manchete magazine described the construction of the Transamazon highway - one of the largest projects of the business-military dictatorship - as the representation of “a new Brazil”. Designed at the height of the economic “miracle”, the construction of the highway benefited large contractors and mining companies, and was also responsible for serious violations of the human rights of indigenous and riverine peoples, as well as environmental damage. The hegemonic press, however, portrayed the project as a symbol of “development” and “progress” for the Amazon region. With this in mind, the article aims to problematize Manchete magazine's coverage of the construction of the Transamazon Highway. Belonging to the Bloch group, Manchete was one of the country's most influential periodicals and was strongly linked to the dictatorial regime. Based on Gramsci's theoretical-methodological apparatus, we will try to demonstrate, throughout the text, how the magazine acted as a “private” apparatus of hegemony, in the sense of defending the road project and building its consensus with society.