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Alagoas Northeast Region |
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Alagoas Beach The beautiful beaches of the
capital, Maceió,
with their blue-green sea set against a history of almost five centuries
of dissent of all kinds, The region was liberated from the French in 1535
only to be invaded by the Dutch, who were driven out by
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The State of Alagoas was one of the regions
patrolled by Virgolino Ferreira da Silva, known as "O
Lampião"
(the lantern), Brazil's most famous, mythical highwayman who died in 1938.
He was a kind
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Alagoas was also the birthplace of Graciliano Ramos whose novels - chiefly "Vidas Secas" (Dry Lives) - best described the cyclic phenomenon of drought in the Brazilian Northeast. Initially a provincial politician, Ramos discovered his vocation as a writer when he was mayor of Palmeira dos Índios and wrote to friends protesting against the corruption and bureaucracy that were a feature of the administration in his region. Graciliano Ramos joined the Brazilian Communist Party in the underdeveloped city which he governed and was later to become a political prisoner during the first dictatorship in the history of Brazil. It was in prison that he wrote "Memórias do Cárcere" (Prison Memories), another of his masterpieces.
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Over recent decades, the State of Alagoas has become one of Brazil's main tourist areas, attracting visitors mainly because of its beautiful beaches, in particular that of the capital, Maceió. In economic terms, the State is also a major producer of sugar and alcohol, although this has declined in recent years. At present, its economy centers mainly around small industrial production, oil drilling, livestock and agriculture with products such as avocado, coconut, beans, tobacco, cassava and maize. The State has mineral reserves consisting of rock-salt and natural gas.
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show the extent to which Alagoas is a land of
contrasts. One of the regions invaded by the French early in the 16th
century when France was in conflict with Portugal over vast areas of the
Brazilian territory, Alagoas became a stage where war and peace have
provided contracting scenarios.
the Portuguese,
only fifteen years after occupation in 1645. During that period - between
1590 and 1694 - the region was the scene of the most important resistance
movement by slaves in Brazil, during which thousands of Negroes fled from
the estates, towns and villages of the Northeast and took refuge in the
Quilombo dos Palmares. Alagoas was also the land of brave Indian warriors
who, like the Negroes, bravely resisted slavery but who nowadays are
reduced to around 6,000 individuals spread over eight groups.
of righteous rogue who for more than a decade instilled
terror across the entire Northeast of Brazil. This "king of the
highwaymen", his wife and nine other gang members were brutally
beheaded by the police who organized a gruesome procession in which their
heads were displayed along 145 km of bush land.Alagoas is known as the "land of the
marshals" because it was the birthplace of Brazil's first two
presidents - Marshal Deodoro da Fonseca and Marshal Floriano Peixoto. The
same State was the political cradle of Fernando Collor de Mello, who was
president of Brazil for almost three years before his impeachment in 1992
in the face of accusations involving corruption. Responsible for financial
irregularities during the period, Paulo César Farias, a key player in the
impeachment process, was imprisoned and, upon release, was murdered in the
State.
