Reinado de horror: tortura na Amazônia durante o ciclo da borracha.

Abstract

This paper examines rampant torture practiced in West Amazonia during the 1900s-1920s in areas that cover Peru, Colombia, and Brazil today. Flogging, one of the most common methods of torture, was used not only to punish but also to intimidate and enslave the Amerindians, mainly in the areas of the Putumayo/Içá and Caquetá/Japurá rivers. The discussion here takes place in the socio-economic context of the Rubber boom period, when the cruel and sadistic practices of torture became more frequent and sophisticated, regarding the various modes of punishment and killing. The main criminal actions involving torture took place under the monopoly of The Peruvian Amazon Rubber Company, which in those years controlled the extraction, processing, and sales of rubber in international markets. The present essay explores the cultural and historical aspects of flogging, a method that has also been employed in rites of passage in many indigenous communities. This paper seeks to problematize a possible point of intersection between two flogging practices, one with a distinctive punitive objective and the other with a ritualistic purpose.

Keywords

• torture
• amazonia
• indigenous people
• the peruvian amazon rubber company
• rubber boom