“Plunged in a dire situation”

the 1932 drought and the Provisional Government in Ceará

Abstract

The article investigates how the fight against the 1932 drought in Ceará was handled, while historically analyzing its elements in the formation process of the Vargas Provisional Government (1930-1934). As we discuss the development of the first signs of drought, we analyze the disputes surrounding the adjustment of the post-revolutionary intervention in Ceará. With the worsening drought, the provisional government renewed its commitment to the affected states, but despite its impetus for structural change, it turned to old solutions to deal with this historical problem. We have used various sources, including mainly newspapers, official documentation produced at local and national level and works by memorialists, to analyze how the main institutions in charge of public aid, namely the Federal Inspectorate for Action Against Drought and the Ministry of Traffic and Public Works, started to deal with the social crisis. We point out that throughout the Provisional Government (1930-1934) the debate over drought gradually broadened, as the post-revolutionary state consolidated itself.