AS RECEPÇÕES PELO ESTADO BRASILEIRO DOS DISCURSOS ESTADUNIDENSES DE COMBATE ÀS DROGAS NO JORNAL O ESTADO DO MARANHÃO (1984-1993)

Abstract

The present work has as main objective to analyze how the newspaper O Estado do Maranhão approached the reception of the American speeches and of state authorities in general disseminated in the periodical against drugs. In this sense, it is intended to present the political and economic meaning of the “war on drugs” in the Americas, highlighting the role of the States involved (especially Colombia, Brazil and the United States) and the press in legitimizing this conflict. For this, we used the newspaper O Estado do Maranhão as a privileged document to structure an approach that establishes the connections between the subjects, institutions and countries involved. Thus, the study seeks to identify the social representations of historical subjects involved in this dispute for power. The disputes and conflicts that permeate the discourses published in the newspaper in question lead us to question the places occupied by subjects related to drug trafficking. Thus, we intend to contribute to the study of the theme from a critical perspective of the hegemonic and official discourses of the period, presenting the political and economic meaning of the “war on drugs” in Colombia, the way in which the Maranhão newspaper used the theme to legitimize representations and a social imaginary about Colombia and it’s continental developments associated with the interests of US foreign policy. Theoretically and methodologically, it is understood that this study dialogues with Global History and the so-called Connected Stories, using a printed documentary corpus produced by the press of the time. We also made a historical synthesis, supported by a specialized bibliography, on the development of drug trafficking in the Americas and its relationship with the maintenance of political and economic power in the countries involved.