“Com o Dr. José Américo a pobreza vencerá”: a campanha política de José Américo para o governo da Paraíba (1950)

Abstract

This study analyzes the 1950 electoral campaign for the government of the state of Paraíba, emphasizing the discursive construction and the political strategies mobilized around the candidacy of José Américo de Almeida. Situated within the context of political reorganization following the end of the Estado Novo, the electoral dispute revealed intense polarization among local political groups, marked by the formation of heterogeneous alliances, popular mobilization, and the expanded use of political propaganda as an instrument of symbolic struggle. The research examines how episodes of violence, rallies, public demonstrations, campaign materials, and cultural productions were politically appropriated and re-signified, contributing to the construction of the candidate’s public image and to the consolidation of narratives of electoral legitimacy. Methodologically, the study is based on the analysis of printed sources, especially contemporary newspapers, as well as political memoirs and historiographical literature on the period, seeking to understand not only the events themselves but also the political meanings attributed to them by the actors involved. It is argued that the americista campaign structured a discourse that associated the candidacy with the defense of popular sectors and with criticism of the opponent’s authoritarianism, transforming conflicts and specific events into instruments of political mobilization.