By OLYMPIO SALGADO NÓBREGA*

Speech given at the occasion of the Honorary Diploma of the student of the Faculty of Education of USP, whose life was tragically cut short by the Brazilian Military Dictatorship

“Who was made of steel in the years of lead”
(Mangueira, Samba-Enredo of 2019)

Talking about Lígia is both sad and happy. Because it reminds me of an extremely sweet girl, who was unfortunately cruelly taken from us by the military dictatorship. She died at the age of 24, almost a child. At that time, I was little more than a kid.

Talking about Lígia, while making me emotional, makes me very proud of my sister. I think about Mangueira's samba-enredo from 2019, because she was one of the people of steel during the years of lead. And that is a huge source of pride for me.

Lígia was the third in a family of six siblings, and the only one from the Northeast. Besides my father, of course! She was born in Natal, as already mentioned, but came to São Paulo, studied here, and took the normal course at Colégio Fernão Dias Paes, at the time the Instituto de Educação Fernão Dias Paes.

She always cared about education. After finishing high school, she worked with underprivileged children, took a literacy course, and at the same time, she started working at the 13th Real Estate Registry Office, because it was a way to contribute to her family, a huge family, with her salary. But her goal was education.

So, she ended up entering the Faculty of Education at USP, in 1967. From 67 to 70, as colleague Ivan Valente said,[I] She was active in the student movement, she was part of the academic center, she fought seriously. She was an extremely generous person and, at the same time, very firm in her positions.

So, she would fight until the end for what she believed in, everyone knew that. Unfortunately, during this period, even movements that had nothing to do with armed struggle were violently persecuted by the dictatorship: torture and deaths occurred in abundance at that time.

Then, in 1972, her car “fell”, with the documents, I remember exactly. The funny thing is that, when watching the film I'm still here, what happened in that movie also happened at home. The police came in with everything, police car in front, everyone arrested, no one could leave the house.

The difference is that she wasn't there. They waited for her to arrive. But before she came home, she called. My father answered and gave the tip that the police were there. He was violently repressed by the police, but he had already given the tip and she never showed up again.

She never showed up again, I'm lying, she disappeared, but she contacted us twice. Once she looked for the whole family, we all managed to get together at our uncle's house. She was worried about how the family was doing, that was her concern, for the family. She said she was fine, that everything was fine.

Later, she looked me up at a maturity course where I was teaching. She came to talk to me and ask about the family, if we were having any problems, what was going on.

Well, in 1972, the “Quintino Massacre” took place, where she and her companions Antônio Marcos Pinto de Oliveira and Maria Regina Lobo Leite Figueiredo were murdered in cold blood. This was proven by the Truth Commission, speaking to residents and neighbors of the residence, showing that in fact they were turning themselves in and the police killed them.

Actually, this reminds me of another samba, which is: “Delegado Chico Palha”. The samba “Delegado Chico Palha” was made in 1938. And what did he do? The samba told the story of delegate Chico Palha, who lived in Rio de Janeiro and violently repressed samba circles and Umbanda temples.[ii] He didn't allow either of those things in his area. And he had the following characteristic: he didn't arrest anyone, he would come in, break everything and beat everyone, violently.

This samba shows that, in fact, even in democracy, poorer, more humble people suffer violence. Torture and murders always happen. The dictatorship worsens violently and affects the middle class, affects everyone, but unfortunately, this has been happening for a long time, as our colleague Juliana Lopes, representative of the Central Student Directory – DCE, pointed out here.

So, there are several examples of people who were killed, murdered and tortured outside the dictatorship.

So, the fight is not just against the dictatorship, it is to improve our democracy. This is fundamental!

I'm sure my sister would like that. That it wouldn't be restricted to the dictatorship, but that this whole struggle would be expanded.

Well, she was assassinated in 72 and, in 1992, Ivan Valente and Luiza Erundina, as mayor of São Paulo, honored my sister with a square in Jardim Miriam, and this square, today called Praça Comunitária Lígia Maria Salgado Nóbrega, is an extremely delicate tribute because it is what she really wanted. She always defended the people, she always wanted the poorest to have opportunities that they do not always have.

Well, that's all I have to say, okay? I want to thank everyone for coming, I want to thank USP and, in particular, the USP School of Education, for the tributes that are being paid not only to my sister, but to all the students who were tortured and murdered during this sad period of the military dictatorship.

Why is this so important? It is important because it is about memory, making everyone remember, and those who did not live through it, so that they know what happened during the leaden times of the dictatorship.

So, I am very grateful for this tribute and, Lígia Maria Salgado Nóbrega, present! And without amnesty!

*Olympio Salgado Nobrega is a teacher.

Speech at the Lígia Maria Salgado Nóbrega Honorary Degree Ceremony, organized by the Faculty of Education of the University of São Paulo (USP). Available here.

Notes

[I] Congressman Ivan Valente was active in the student movement with Lígia Nóbrega. Spied on by the military, Valente was arrested and tortured because of his activism with the Movement for the Emancipation of the Proletariat – MEP (Information No. 1321. DOI/CODI, available at: http://imagem.sian.an.gov.br/acervo/derivadas/br_dfanbsb_v8/mic/gnc/eee/80004490/br_dfanbsb_v8_mic_gnc_eee_80004490_d0001de0001.pdf).

[ii] The civil-military dictatorship persecuted and repressed samba schools and other spaces of social interaction for the black population in São Paulo. In his thesis on the subject, Bruno Baronetti (2021) analyzes the violent police invasion of Unidos do Peruche in 1974. In a statement collected for the thesis, Seo Carlão do Peruche states: “The worst episode I experienced in the world of samba was the invasion of the Peruche court. Many years later I was certain that the invasion was for political reasons. The order came from the DOPS. (…) They shot at our speakers, our instruments. (…) They beat my late wife, my children, who were young, and a lot of people from the school” (BARONETTI, 2021, p. 343, available at: https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8138/tde-24062021-184504/pt-br.php).

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