The sugar War: the dispute between Sao Paulo and Northeast and the intervention of the Institute of Sugar and Alcohol

Abstract

The documents produced by the Institute of Sugar and Alcohol are among the most important collections from which to analyze the intervention process of the state during Vargas' first administration. In Brasil Açucareiro magazine, in the books and reports published by the presidents of that institution, and in some interviews, we observe a continuous concern with the internal market and the inter-regional disputes, mainly between Sao Paulo and Pernambuco. The article analyzes the political and economic factors which place in context the intervention of the Institute of Sugar and Alcohol, as well as the rearrangements of the Brazilian sugar landscape caused by the growth of production in São Paulo.