Herbert José de Sousa

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Herbert José de Sousa

Herbert José "Betinho" de Sousa or de Souza (born November 13, 1935 in Bocaiúva ( Brazil ), † August 9, 1997 in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)) was a sociologist and activist against the injustice of the economy and the corrupt government in Brazil . He was the founder of the Instituto Brasileiro de Análise Social e Econômica (IBASE). He is the founder of the largest citizens' initiative in the history of Brazil. Under his guidance, millions of poor people were provided with food and registered by the authorities.

Life

Souza was born in the state of Minas Gerais, the son of a prison officer. Being a hemophiliacs , he quickly learned to use words to defend himself to avoid injury. At the age of 15 he fell ill with tuberculosis and spent three years in strict quarantine in a garden house that his father built because the family had no money for medication.

After his recovery, he left to make up for the lost time. He finished school and studied sociology. After his studies he became involved in the Juventude Universitária Católica (JUC, Catholic Student Youth ) and in the national student association. He became co-founder and leader of the social and political movement "Ação Popular". After the military coup in 1964, his name was on the wanted list. He had to go underground. While he was pasting posters at night, he sold self-made leather bags, masked during the day. For five years he acted under the code name "Wilson", as a member of the resistance group "Number 31" in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo against the rule of the generals.

He later fled to Chile , where he was appointed by President Salvador Allende as an advisor on agricultural reform. In 1973 the military staged a coup there and "Betinho" had to flee with his wife Maria Nakao. He did his doctorate in sociology in Canada and taught at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in Mexico City . In 1979, after an amnesty from the generals, he was able to return to his homeland. In Rio de Janeiro he then founded IBASE, which is one of the most prestigious institutes for social studies in Brazil.

In 1986 "Betinho" and his two brothers, all three hemophiliacs, learned that they had contracted AIDS from injecting blood products . The disease broke out very quickly among the brothers. "Betinho" carried the disease for years without breaking out. Since his brothers were treated in different hospitals, he carried the news of each other until they died. So he was able to observe the foreseeable course of his illness twice. After the death of his brothers he intensified his efforts for IBASE and other organizations. In 1997, he died of complications from infection with HIV and hepatitis C .

The citizens' initiative

The foundations of Betinho's citizens' initiative originated in 1992. The then President Fernando Collor de Mello was suspected of corruption. After nationwide protests, as a result of which Collor resigned, the spokesmen for the demonstrators decided to use the power of the wave of indignation. "Democracy and hunger are incompatible" they declared to the new President Itamar Franco and convinced him to publicly support the "Citizens' Action Against Misery". The citizens' initiative consists of committees that take responsibility for their own small district. By 1994 there were 9,000 such committees, with nearly a million members. They confidently interfered in the work of authorities and politicians.

Another key factor in the success is a speech given by the President on June 23, 1993. Brazil's television stations suspended their programs for a special broadcast in which the President published the results of a study that found that there were 32 million starving people in Brazil. Within a few months, 4,000 new committees were formed. The work consisted in part of free neighborhood help, which everyone does according to their own abilities. Another part consisted of the registration of people in slums and slums by the authorities.

Large fundraising campaigns, in which Betinho gave a speech as the star guest, were held. Entrance fee was one kilogram of groceries. In mid-1994, President Franco agreed to donate 400,000 tons of grain. Despite protests from members of the government, this donation of grain was distributed by the committees within a year.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ See on this movement the article Ação Popular in the Portuguese language Wikipedia.
personal data
SURNAME Sousa, Herbert José de
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Betinho; Souza, Herbert José de
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Brazilian sociologist and civil rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Bocaiúva , Brazil
DATE OF DEATH August 9, 1997
Place of death Rio de Janeiro , Brazil