The Capitals of Acre: The city and the powers

Abstract

In the begining of the 20th century Acre was a region disputed by foreign enterprises and their representatives, Brazilian workers, Peruvians, Bolivians and indigenous people. Located in the southwest of Amazon and territories owned by Bolivia, it was incorporated to Brazil in 1903, after a period of border dispute. In order to guarantee its sovereignty the Brazilian state constructed the first capital, Sena Madureira, in 1904. The city of Xapuri, at Acre riverside was an important location during the Acre revolt. At that time it achieved an important position for the resistance of workers in the rubber economy against the international agreements which assigned the land to the foreign companies. Cruzeiro do Sul, has been a place with an important role in Juruá Revolt when in 1910 different local social segments tried to transform Acre from a federal territory into a state of the federation. In 1920, pacified and nationalized, Acre territory transferred its capital from Sena Madureira to Rio Branco which at that time had become a center of convergence of the rubber economy in the region. The “capitals” of Acre revealed the importance of the city as a geographic strategic configuration in the political and economic scenario which structures the organization of the space for the exercise of the sovereignty.