The Superintendency for the Development of the Northeast ( pt, Superintendência de Desenvolvimento do Nordeste), or Sudene () for short, is a Brazilian governmental agency created in 1959, during the government of President

Juscelino Kubitschek Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira (; 12 September 1902 – 22 August 1976), also known by his initials JK, was a prominent Brazilian politician who served as the 21st president of Brazil from 1956 to 1961. His term was marked by economic prosp ...

(1956-1961), to stimulate economic growth in the

northeastern The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

region of Brazil, one of the poorest of the country, that faces chronic droughts and has a

semi-arid A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi- ...

climate. Sudene was created by suggestion of economist

Celso Furtado Celso Monteiro Furtado (July 26, 1920 – November 20, 2004) was a Brazilian economist and one of the most distinguished intellectuals of his country during the 20th century. His work focuses on development and underdevelopment and on the persis ...

, one of the leading intellectuals of Brazil, who was the agency's first director.

Premise

Furtado's premise was that the semi-arid climate of the Northeast was an environmental reality against which it would be very unproductive to fight – despite governmental action to take water to that region – and that state poverty reduction programs should thus aim at using the existing natural advantages of the area – namely, its availability of labor – and promote industrialization instead of the region's traditional economic focus, which was on agriculture and livestock.

Actions

The agency's first steps were to speed up the construction of hydroelectric dams in the

São Francisco River The São Francisco River (, ) is a large river in Brazil. With a length of , it is the longest river that runs entirely in Brazilian territory, and the fourth longest in South America and overall in Brazil (after the Amazon, the Paraná and t ...

, followed by governmental incentives for the creation of heavy industry projects, such as the

Camaçari Camaçari is a city in Bahia, Brazil. It is located at . It is part of the Salvador Metropolitan Region (''Região Metropolitana de Salvador''), being the industrial city of the metropolis. Camaçari covers , and had an estimated population of 304, ...

Petrochemical Complex, in the state of

Bahia Bahia ( , , ; meaning "bay") is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo, Minas Gerais, and Rio de Janeiro) and the 5th-largest ...

, and the industrial district of Aratu, in the metropolitan area of

Salvador Salvador, meaning " salvation" (or "saviour") in Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese may refer to: * Salvador (name) Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Salvador (band), a Christian band that plays both English and Spanish music ** ''Salvador'' ...

. Sudene is also responsible for the formation of intermediary products industries: fertilizers production in the state of

Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. S ...

and a chemicals complex in Salgema, state of

Alagoas Alagoas (, ) is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil and is situated in the eastern part of the Northeast Region. It borders: Pernambuco (N and NW); Sergipe (S); Bahia (SW); and the Atlantic Ocean (E). Its capital is the city of Maceió. ...

. In the state of

Pernambuco Pernambuco () is a state of Brazil, located in the Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.6 million people as of 2020, making it seventh-most populous state of Brazil and with around 98,148 km², being the ...

, investments concentrated on the metropolitan area of the city of

Recife That it may shine on all ( Matthew 5:15) , image_map = Brazil Pernambuco Recife location map.svg , mapsize = 250px , map_caption = Location in the state of Pernambuco , pushpin_map = Brazil#South A ...

, with durable goods industries being created in the cities of Jaboatão, Cabo and Paulista. In the state of

Ceará Ceará (, pronounced locally as or ) is one of the 26 states of Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country, on the Atlantic coast. It is the eighth-largest Brazilian State by population and the 17th by area. It is also one of th ...

, a new perspective was adopted: Sudene's incentives helped form a textiles industrial area, around the capital of the state,

Fortaleza Fortaleza (, locally , Portuguese for ''Fortress'') is the state capital of Ceará, located in Northeastern Brazil. It belongs to the Metropolitan mesoregion of Fortaleza and microregion of Fortaleza. It is Brazil's 5th largest city and the ...

. In 1999, Sudene was involved in corruption scandals which led President

Fernando Henrique Cardoso Fernando Henrique Cardoso (; born 18 June 1931), also known by his initials FHC (), is a Brazilian sociologist, professor and politician who served as the 34th president of Brazil from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 2002. He was the first Braz ...

(1994-2002) to decree its dissolution. In 2002, however, the agency was recreated with the name of Adene - Agency for the Development of the Northeast.

References

The process of industrialization in Recife, Brazil - https://doi.org/10.1007%2FBF00845198

External links

Sudene in HistorianetAdene's official website
{{authority control Government agencies of Brazil 1959 establishments in Brazil