Meeting about persecution of workers at Port of Santos during dictatorship ends without agreement

[[legacy_image_358624]] The Port Authority of Santos (APS) stated on Tuesday (21), in a note, that there is "no conclusion" regarding possible reparations, such as compensations, for port workers persecuted and tortured with the approval of the port administration during the military dictatorship. The statement came after the president of APS, Anderson Pomini, participated of a meeting about the subject at the Federal Public Ministry (MPF).

The MPF seeks reparations for port workers for the damages caused by an "intense collaboration" of the Santos Port Administration with the repression of the military dictatorship. An investigation by the MPF, based on thousands of documents and several testimonies, demonstrates that, between 1964 and 1985, the port management maintained a close relationship with the organs of the military regime, coordinating the persecution of workers and suppressing union activities.

With these findings, the Public Ministry intends for APS to commit repairing the damages caused to the victims of these persecutions and to society.

The situation allegedly began in 1964 with the Companhia Docas de Santos (CDS), a private entity, and continued when the Companhia Docas do Estado de São Paulo (Codesp) took over in 1980.

Codesp inherited and continued an internal repressive system created by its predecessor, explained the MPF.

The investigations reveal that CDS devised an internal policing structure at the Port of Santos to monitor all movements of the employees. The actions, initially preventive, took on repression particularly from 1966 onwards, when the Internal Surveillance Department (DVI) was created.