''A Voz do Trabalhador'' () was an anarchist periodical published in Brazil whose main theme was the relationship between

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and

syndicalism Syndicalism is a labour movement within society that, through industrial unionism, seeks to unionize workers according to industry and advance their demands through Strike action, strikes and other forms of direct action, with the eventual goa ...

. In addition to this issue, others such as police repression, the high cost of living, solidarity between workers and even libertarian theater and literature were discussed in its pages. This newspaper was founded in the city of

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, in 1908, as part of the activities promoted by the

Brazilian Workers' Confederation The Brazilian Workers' Confederation (, COB) was the first national trade union center in Brazil, founded in 1908, under the basis of agreement of the First Brazilian Workers' Congress of 1906. Through its newspaper, '' A Voz do Trabalhador'', it ...

. Neno Vasco was one of the members of its editorial collective. The newsroom of the periodical worked at different addresses, including Rua do Hospício, nº 156; Rua General Câmara, nº 335 and Rua das Andradas, nº 87. The first phase (monthly) ran from 1908 to 1909 and the second, fortnightly, from 1913 to 1915. In the inaugural edition, in an unsigned text, the political wishes of the publication were well outlined: "What we want, and we shall achieve, at all costs, is the emancipation of workers from tyranny and capitalist exploitation, transforming the current regime of wage earners and employers into a regime that allows the development of organizations of producers-consumers, whose initial cell is in the current union of resistance to employers". The newspaper's contributors usually signed their articles with pseudonyms to avoid persecution by the federal and state government. Among these journalists, in addition to Neno Vasco, were Marcelo Varema, Jagunço, A Barão, Albino Moreira, João Penteado, Amaro de Matos, Manuel Moscoso, Eurípedes Floreal, José Martins and even

Lima Barreto Afonso Henriques de Lima Barreto (13 May 1881 – 1 November 1922) was a Brazilian novelist and journalist. A major figure in Brazilian Pre-Modernism, he is famous for the novel '' Triste Fim de Policarpo Quaresma'', a bitter satire of the early ...

, the famous Rio writer and novelist. Lima wrote a chronicle, entitled "Words of an anarchist snob", taking a stand against the official repression promoted by the republican government against immigrants accused of anarchism. The aforementioned writer wrote the following lines, in the edition of ''A Voz do Trabalhador'', dated May 15, 1913: "anarchists speak of humanity for humanity, of humankind for humankind, and not in the name of small competences of political personalities; (...) because they do not use those ignorances or 'snobbery' that give fat sinecures in politics and sentimental successes in bourgeois salons". Although the militants of

anarcho-syndicalism Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchism, anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade uni ...

formed a minority, among immigrant workers and Brazilians, the political demands of this group were of paramount importance in the history of some basic labor conquests. The struggle for a daily eight-hour workday, in 1907, for example, started in Rio, ended up acquiring a national dimension. The political and police repression unleashed against supporters of anarchism in Brazil, at the beginning of the 20th century, was quite intransigent and brutal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voz do Trabalhador, A 1908 establishments in Brazil 1915 disestablishments in Brazil Anarchist periodicals published in Brazil Defunct newspapers published in Brazil Portuguese-language newspapers Newspapers established in 1908 Publications disestablished in 1915