Documents related to the arrest of the former deputy, whose story was told in the film “”, are “crumbling in your hands” due to the poor conditions of the Public Archive of the State of Rio de Janeiro, said Victor Rosa Travancas, dismissed from the position of general director of the institution by the governor ().
Travancas was fired on Wednesday (8) after closing the place under the justification of structural problems without an agreement with the Castro management.
State management denies both structural issues and damage to the documentation about Rubens Paiva.
According to the Civil House, the files relating to the former deputy are “in good condition and under constant monitoring by a specialized team, which ensures their physical integrity”.
The ministry also stated that, to facilitate public access to information, the documentation was digitized and sent to the report images of documents that show the name of Rubens Paiva among the politicians impeached by the regime, in a list of those who spoke on the night of the coup. military and in a letter informing his asylum at the embassy of the then Yugoslavia.
Travancas had been appointed to the position in December. THE Sheet the former general director justified the closure of the building due to the risk of collapse. According to him, there is humidity above tolerable levels in rooms that store files, sunken floors and a pillar with cracks.
In a statement, the state’s Civil House Secretariat said that the decision to close the doors was “unilateral”, “without consultation with the government and without approval from the competent bodies”.
“The Public Archive has a valid Report of Requirements and Certificate of Approval and was inspected in December by the Fire Department, when it was found that there is no imminent risk that justifies the closure of the building”, states the folder.
Reports sent by the government to the reporter show approval for the building’s operation. One of them, signed by Emop (Public Works Company of the State of Rio de Janeiro), states that there are cracks in the slab of one of the rooms, but that “such anomaly does not interfere with the use of the building”.
Hydrant, mechanical ventilation, detection and alarm systems are working, according to Fire Department documentation.
The Rio State Public Archive was created in 1931 and had several offices. Since 1998, it has been in a building on Botafogo beach, which in the past housed a tram substation.
He was the first to receive documents from the Dops (Political and Social Order Department) after the end of the dictatorship. It also preserves maps of the city of Rio de Janeiro from the 18th century and documents on family migration, land ownership and police records.
“People need to raise awareness that we are facing a [um novo acidente como] . We are waiting for the worst to happen. It’s just paper there, there’s no way to save it”, says Travancas.
This Thursday (9) the report visited the Public Archives building and servers were working normally, serving researchers.
In a public note, Anpuh (National History Association) stated that “no document from the claims authorities was released that would justify this radicalization.”
President of the Rio de Janeiro section of the entity, Beatriz Kushnir states that the situation of Brazilian public archives is not good and needs investment, but that technical servers are capable of preserving documentary memory.
“The abandonment of public archives in Brazil is not a coincidence, it is a project to outsource the custody of documentation”, he states. “We need investment in digitalization, in competitions, and we need governments to understand the strategic role of a public archive.”
