Maracatibean People's Republic

The Maracatibean People's Republic (in : República Popular Maracatibenha ; in : Mbarakatyba Aba'sui Republica) also known as Socialist Maracatibe or Maracatibean Socialist Dictatorship, was a socialist government estabilished in Maracatibe between 1926 and 1944. It had three presidents, in wich the most importants were Márcio Andrade (founder), from 1926 to 1932 and Ivo Aguiar, from 1932 to 1944.

Revolution
The Maracatibean People's Republic was stabilized through a against the provisional government of 1926. At the time, the democratic socialist Márcio Andrade had been overthrown by a supported by the opposition, on charges of being a communist. Andrade's arrest was short-lived, as the revolution took two weeks to seize the capital.

That year, Márcio Andrade decided to break with the current system and called the 1926 Constituent Assembly, formed by peasants, workers, teachers and socialist thinkers, all linked to People's Vanguard. The new constitution was, unsurprisingly, a socialist constitution, which vetoed the existence of other political parties besides the PV. As of September 1926, all political parties had been extinguished, and socialist economic reforms (see economics section) had begun to be implemented. The reforms centralized the planning of the economy and extinguished the concept of, with all land being collective and all factories becoming workers' cooperatives. Some businessmen joined the new government, becoming part of the high bureaucracy, and in fact maintaining the ownership of their companies, even if indirectly.

The revolution was not well accepted by all, mainly by the military, so the Maracatibean Armed Forces were extinguished, becoming the Revolutionary Citizen Guard. Many of the military still remained in force, but a major purge was made, which led to riots in 1927 and 1928. Opponents of the regime were initially arrested, with government repression being mild in the period of Márcio Andrade (1926-1927). Even so, there was no freedom of speech. Other important revolts were the Catholic Revolts, which were very present in the first government. Many saw communism as anti-God, so they armed themselves to overthrow the regime, but they failed, with many being killed by the Revolutionary Guard. The incompatibility of the Kwatib belief with the socialist regime also generated friction, which resulted in the Shamans' revolt in 1928.

By crushing the uprisings, the government managed to keep religion under its control. The People's Republic of Maracatibe was officially a pro-Atheist state, and therefore discouraged religious beliefs. The issue was strongly anti-religion. Even so, the government was cautious, and in order not to cause popular uprisings, it allowed the practice of religion, but the government intervened extensively in these matters, going so far as to alter religious scriptures and send false priests to do the events.

Initial sucess
The lack of and interventions in  were overshadowed by the initial success of the economic system. Maracatibe managed to eradicate during the socialist period, and several hospitals were built, in areas that had no access to any type of medical care before. The country started to have several industries, such as railway, automobile, pharmaceutical and steel, all founded by the government. Thousands of new planned homes were being built, and slums have declined.

Oppression and decline
During the government of Ivo Aguiar (1932-1944), the oppression of the communist system increased. The government has become even more centralized and the party has become more restricted. The purges happened again, and those who opposed the revolution began to receive harsher penalties, including torture and death. Forced labor camps were built in different regions of the country, where political prisoners extracted timber, worked in unhealthy mines and suffered from torture and food shortages. It is estimated that 50 to 150 thousand people were arrested in these camps, and that a third would not survive their harsh conditions. The Twaco ethnic group, a people who lived in the dense forests of the southwest and opposed the regime, was the victim of a great genocide, with 21 of its 30,000 members having been arrested, killed or refugees elsewhere.

Executions were frequent, and so were disappearances. Historians say more than one hundred thousand dead for the oppression of the government, only in the Aguiar regime. The dictatorship also caused the displacement of half a million citizens, mainly to Zahava, Albaterra and Theyka, where they could arrive hiding in the dense jungle or swimming. Many people died in the process of escape.

In addition to this factor, there was misery. In fact, despite the large works and industries, the lack of food, clothing and services was very apparent. The auto industry had grown, but only one in 50 families owned a car. Many people lived in shared houses, a number that increased the number of jobs until the end of the regime. In addition, the conditions of the workers were not much better than before the revolution, in view of the constant increase in the workload, the extremely low wages and the unhealthy environments. As this grew, and the government's oppression increased, the regime became unsustainable.

Dissolution
In August 1944, General Henrique Martins de Aquino, allied with several military, civilian and internationally supported, deposed Ivo Aguiar, who was arrested and later killed. People's Vanguard was outlawed, and its members arrested or exiled.

Government
Maracatibe was a, and  state. The parliament was bicameral, with the Council of State being the upper house and the Popular Assembly being the lower house, made up of 21 and 411 members, respectively. People's Vanguard was the only party to operate in the country.

The elections were indirect, with the population choosing municipal delegates (sometimes there was only one candidate per district), who elected delegates from the Regional Council, who approved the list of Deputies for the National Assembly. The National Assembly elected the president, who was the secretary general of People's Vanguard. The president, in turn, appointed a third of the Council of State, in addition to the ministers. The other two-thirds of the state council were chosen by the People's Assembly.

In theory, the People's Assembly would have ordinary workers, such as peasants, teachers and workers, but their number gradually decreased, until in 1944, less than 10% of deputies were from these classes, and 90% were people focused on bureaucracy.

Economy
The economy underwent major reforms, such as the collectivization of land and the nationalization of all sectors of the economy. The state financed the emergence of the automobile, pharmaceutical, shipbuilding, machinery and steel industries, which generated a great post-socialist impact. All prices, wages and quantities of products were determined by the central government.

The centralization of the economy and the size of the bureaucracy were unsustainable, so the majority of the population was not in a good financial situation. Consumer goods such as radio, furniture, automobiles were inaccessible, costing several times the average salary. Even a simple coat was also extremely expensive. In addition, there was a lack of products, especially clothes and certain types of food, which sometimes ran out on the same day. Food scarcity varied regionally, and in many cases it caused hunger. Something that aggravated the situation of poverty was the foreign embargo.

Foreign relations
Socialist Maracatibe actively financed groups of revolutionaries around the world, in addition to attempting to assassinate opponents in exile and businessmen. Thus, it was not well regarded by the capitalist world. The mere fact that the government confiscated the possessions of multinationals in the country was already sufficient for the deterioration of relations with several countries. Despite this, the country had a good relationship with other socialist nations at the time.