The Repentants

Original: Os Arrependidos

In 1970, at the height of repression by the military dictatorship, five imprisoned guerrillas came to the public to renounce the armed struggle and praise the regime. With the repercussion of the declarations, the government decided to transform the retractions into a State practice. He started to torture opponents to make mea-culpa. Until 1975, around forty prisoners participated in the “repentances”, as they became known. Os Arrependidos recounts the little-remembered story of former militants who, very young, dropped everything to risk their lives for a cause, were arrested and tortured, and became a propaganda weapon for their enemies.