Sindicato dos trabalhadores rurais agricultores e agricultoras familiares de Santarém: 50 anos de luta e representatividade no campo

Abstract

This undergraduate thesis comprehends the trajectory of the Rural Workers’ Union of Santarém (STTR), in the state of Pará, over its fifty years of existence, highlighting its role in defending family farming and the struggle for social rights in the Amazon countryside. The study contextualizes the union’s foundation in 1971 during Brazil’s military regime, and its transition from an assistance-based structure to an autonomous and combative organization aligned with the principles of the new unionism. Based on qualitative research, including bibliographic review, document analysis, and semi- structured interviews with union leaders, the study reveals how STTR has faced historical challenges such as land grabbing, state repression, agribusiness expansion, and peasant marginalization. The results demonstrate that the union played a key role in the creation of settlements, extractive reserves, and public policies directed at family farming. The interviews highlight the union’s ability to adapt to political and economic changes by incorporating digital tools, expanding alliances, and promoting new leadership training. Despite institutional setbacks and growing pressures from capital on rural territories, the STTR remains an essential organization in the defense of land, agroecology, and dignity in rural areas. The study concludes that its history reflects not only a struggle for rights but also the active resistance of Amazonian rural communities in the face of structural inequalities and contemporary threats.