Reflexions about brazilian carnival and politics

The events of Brazil in recent years have led the country to an explicit polarization, because in our country has always been a great division not only in social, but regional and ethnic classes. The question is, in fact, the far right groups lived in the surdine and now they are showing up and even attaining power. So the main press and social media channels talk about the characteristics of the Carnival of 2019, like the most politic carnival of the last years. But for the people who know the carnival and study it, we can conclude that the statement is not a reflection of reality. What happens, in fact, is the reaction of the groups that are challenged at the carnival, like the president, his political party and his followers.

The contest in the carnival is a very common aspect, we have several samba schools and sounds on the samba avenue with controversial, highly political scenarios and it is important to highlight the role of eminent members of samba schools such as Paulo da Portela, Candeia and others. I could talk about several here, all of them have importance in their historical moments, but perhaps for the fact of being a pioneer, I will speak of a prominent person in the carioca carnival: Paulo da Portela.

Paulo Benjamin de Oliveira that was his name. One of the founders of the School of Samba Portela, was protagonist of the most important moment of the samba universe. With the political capacity and social vision was one of the responsible for the officialization of the carnival in Brazil. From the 1930s the carnival in Brazil became an official event and the whole process was created through the political articulation of the group of Paulo da Portela.

However, the carnival in Brazil that was born in the nineteenth century through the actions of poor and excluded, underwent various transformations, it was the scene of revolutions in both music and social behavior, in fact, the carnival provoked revolutions in the country and this aspect is necessary to understand by knowing that carnival is a political manifestation in itself.

Therefore, the current carnival is not the most politicized, the difference is in the reaction of the government and its groups of followers the extreme way they deal with these contradictory and antagonistic groups. There is also a growing unpopularity of the president over his repressive stance. Samba and carnival were always a form of resistance and faced with a dictatorial attitude, this characteristics ends up appearing more.