A simbologia da política e da guerra no universo torcedor: as apropriações da figura de Che Guevara entre torcidas organizadas no Brasil

The political and war symbology in the universe of the supporters: The appropriations of the figure of Che Guevara between organized supporters in Brazil

Abstract

The paper explores the appropriations that a segment of Brazilian organized supporter groups made of the figure of the Latin American revolutionary leader Che Guevara, since at least the 1980, and that is still present in the space of the bleachers and in its broader imaginary to this day. We seek to show how the meaning attributed to the character acquires diverse senses in the soccer sphere, with the incorporation of his symbol in mottos, effigies, and flags, conforming elements of a material and symbolic culture in the stadiums, associated to the identification of certain supporter groupings. Those meanings have a dynamic character and are at times political, at times belligerent, at times cultural, since Che Guevara became a rebellion icon, not only in Brazil, but is part of an international subculture of ultra-supporters in Europe and the rest of the world. After discussing the appearance of his figure in Brazilian stadiums, the text builds a net of an inter-supporter national alliance in Brazil, structured around the iconic reference to Che Guevara. Finally, as a case study, the paper focusses on the rivalry between organized supporter groups of a same state – Máfia Azul and Galoucura, linked to the Cruzeiro and Atlético soccer clubs, from Minas Gerais – whose antagonism made it so, in response to Che Guevara, the rival group stylized the figure of René Barrientos, military and far-right politic, responsible for his murder in the jungles of Bolivia, in 1967.