EFFORTPOST The Last Western: A Mini Biography of Brazil's Greatest Outlaw

The Cangaço

Cangaço is the name given to the banditry that occurred from the the end of the 19th century to the middle of the 20th century in Northeastern Brazil; the bands of cangaço committed kidnappings, r*pes, looting and the common practice of castration of their enemies. The opinion about the cangaço is divided, some believe that it was a form of defense of the peasants against the landowner oppression, while others believe that the bands of cangaço were just bloodthirsty barbarian gangs interested only in profit. Regardless of who is correct, the influence that cangaço had on Brazilian northeastern culture is undeniable, as shown in songs, popular art and even artistic films and comedy movies.

A King is born

Virgulino Ferreira da Silva, also known as Lampião (Lantern, nickname he received because of his ability to shoot quickly and accurately, lighting up the night) was born on June 4, 1898 in the small town of Serra Talhada in the state of Pernambuco. Virgulino was from a lower-middle-class family, could read and write and had 5 brothers and 3 sisters. At the age of 21, Virgulino worked as a craftsman and muleteer with his father, and traveled around the Northeast selling his products.

The Origin of Lampião

In 1915, Zé Saturnino, a neighbor and Virgulino childhood friend, began to dispute land with the Ferreira family. Due to Zé Saturnino's growing political power in the region, Virgulino's family could not resist his network of influence and had to move several times. Each move left Virgulino and his relatives poorer, encouraging him and two of his brothers to join Sinhô Pereira's gang in 1920. Virgulino's entry into a life of crime was definitive when his father was killed by the police on May 18, 1921. Enraged, Lampião swore revenge on Zé Saturnino. Later, in the same year, Sinhõ Pereira's gang surrounded Zé Saturnino's farm so that Lampião could carry out his revenge, but Zé Saturnino's mother (who was Lampião's godmother at baptism) begged him to spare her son's life; Lampião decided to accept the request and left the farm with his gang. Zé Saturnino died of natural causes on August 5, 1981, aged 87.

Crime, Fame and Women

In 1922, Sinhô Pereira leaves the gang respecting a demand from Father Ciceró (famous religious leader in the region) and left the leadership to Lampião. To replenish supplies, Lampião asked for a loan of 20 million reis to Baronesa da Água Branca, a rich and powerful widow who controlled the small city of Água Branca in the state of Alagoas; In response, the Baroness sent a letter saying that she would use this money to buy bullets to kill him. Annoyed, Lampião decided to take revenge on the Baroness by attacking her city. Expecting an attack, the Baroness received military aid from the state government, so Lampião waited a year for the tension to dissipate, thus taking Água Branca by surprise.

On the eve of the attack, Lampião took a small farm a few kilometers from Água Branca, took the owner's family hostage and sent him to buy carpets and red paint in the city. 8 men were sent to block the city's roads while another 10 (including Lampião) were sent to start the assault. The gang hid weapons and ammunition in the carpets, which were painted red so it would look like the bandits were carrying corpses. In the morning, Lampião and his henchmen arrived at the city barracks and asked for help from a watchman to deliver the "bodies", the watchman invited them to wait at the barracks while he called a policeman to take care of the paperwork. Taking advantage of the situation, Lampião released all 20 prisoners from the barracks and stole all the firearms, when the guard and the policeman returned, Lampião arrested them and used a trumpet to wake up the rest of the soldiers and police in the city, who were unprepared and were quickly subdued by the gang and imprisoned in the barracks cells. After that, the armed prisoners and Lampião's gang looted the city, in the end the baroness suffered the greatest loss: she lost 30 million reis, gold, jewelry, 25 dairy goats and was still forced to walk with Lampião through the captured city.

The Agua Branca Invasion and other exploits of Lampião over the years, such as the kidnapping of Stantard Oil employees; his violent attacks against cities in the state of Paraíba as revenge for the death of his younger brother and partial loss of vision (that's why he wore glasses) and his temporary hiring by the government of the state of Ceará to deal with Coluna Prestes, a group of soldiers rebels who marched through Brazil spreading revolt against the Republic; gave Lampião a legendary fame. This reputation made women attracted to the cangaço, the most famous of which was Maria Bonita. Maria Bonita was born in 1911, the daughter of poor farmers, she was forced to marry at age 15 to a shoemaker who betrayed and beat her. At age 19 and still married, Maria met Lampião and the two fell in love, after which Maria left her husband and joined Lampião's gang. According to reports, Maria had a very strong personality to the point of opposing Lampião when she thought he was being too cruel, in addition, Maria received gifts from Lampião and walked through the woods wearing expensive jewelry and silk clothes. In 1932, after a honeymoon, Maria Bonita had a daughter with Lampião, she was called Expedita and given to friends of the couple so that she would not grow up in banditry; Expedita is alive to this day. Even with Maria Bonita's jealousy caused by Lampião's lovers, the couple remained very close until their death.

The Death of Cangaço

The rise of the Dictatorship of President Getúlio Vargas in 1932 removed the power of local oligarchies, thus improving police, marking the death of cangaço. Despite the end of other gangs of cangaço, Lampião and his band did not give up the fight. In July 27, 1938, an anonymous tip took a troop of the Military Police to Fazenda de Angicos in the state of Sergipe, where Lampião's gang was hidden. At dawn on the 28th, the troops cornered the gang and killed Lampião and Maria Bonita. Over the next few days, the heads of the gang leaders were exposed in several cities.

The Victims

Despite Lampião's reputation as a "Brazilian Robin Hood", and the apparent religiosity of these criminals, the institution of the cangaço was extremely violent, with Lampião's gang alone responsible for more than two thousand deaths, including old people, women and children. Below are some of the most emblematic stories of the bandits' brutality.

Pedro Batatinha, a 22-year-old man, was to be married in a week, but misfortune befell him. Pedro was unfairly accused of being an informer and as punishment, Lampião ordered him to be castrated. The smell of his dead flesh was bad enough to attract the attention of a journ*list who was on the same train as Pedro, who took the photo and published it in the city's newspaper.

José Baiano was one of Lampião's most infamous henchmen, as, after raping his victims, he marked his initials on their faces with a hot knife.

The most famous case of sexual violence in the cangaço was the 12-year-old Dada. She was kidnapped during one of Lampião's gang attacks on a town. She was made a s*x slave and gang-r*ped, until, after 3 years, in an ambush, she was mistakenly shot by the police. After losing her leg, Dada returned to her family.

Stuff

Interview with Zé Rufino, The Killer of Cangaceiros:

Interview with Zé Saturnino:

Interviews with ex-cangaceiros: