This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| O Pasquim | |
|---|---|
| Name | O Pasquim |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
| Foundation | 1969 |
| Ceased publication | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Rio de Janeiro |
| Language | Portuguese |
| Founders | Ziraldo, Jaguar, Millôr Fernandes, Tarso de Castro |
O Pasquim was a Brazilian weekly satirical newspaper founded in 1969 in Rio de Janeiro by cartoonists and journalists associated with the Brazilian cultural milieu of the late 1960s. It became a rallying point for opposition to the Brazilian military dictatorship and attracted contributors from the worlds of cartooning, literature, theatre, and cinema. The publication blended caricature, columnists, comics, and investigative pieces to critique prominent figures and institutions of the period, while influencing later media and cultural movements across Latin America.
The newspaper emerged during the tenure of President Emílio Garrastazu Médici and the era of Institutional Act Number Five (AI-5), with origins traceable to the creative circles surrounding cartoonists and satirists who had previously worked in magazines and theatres in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Founders and early collaborators came from networks tied to publications like Manchete, O Pasquim-adjacent satirical efforts, and theatrical groups connected to figures such as Dercy Gonçalves and Zélia Gattai. During its run the paper covered events from the 1968 protests and the repression following AI-5 through the gradual political abertura that culminated in the Diretas Já movement and the return to electoral politics with figures like Tancredo Neves and Fernando Collor de Mello on the national stage. The publication ceased regular circulation in the early 1990s amid changing media markets influenced by the expansion of television networks like Rede Globo and the consolidation of conglomerates such as Grupo Abril.
The editorial stance combined satire, polemic, and cultural commentary, positioning itself against authoritarian figures including members of military cabinets and aligned politicians associated with leaders like Arthur da Costa e Silva and Ernesto Geisel. Key founders included cartoonists and writers such as Ziraldo, Jaguar, Millôr Fernandes, and Tarso de Castro, who collaborated with a roster of contributors from the Brazilian arts and letters world including journalists and cartoonists who had associations with Folha de S.Paulo, O Globo, and literary circles around Clarice Lispector and João Cabral de Melo Neto. Regular contributors and collaborators spanned a broad array of personalities tied to theatre and cinema like Glauber Rocha, comedians linked with Dercy Gonçalves and Chico Anysio, and intellectuals engaged with public debate alongside activists associated with movements led by figures such as Luís Carlos Prestes and trade unionists connected to later leaders like Leonel Brizola. The paper's masthead and pages also featured emerging talents who later worked in television with Globo or in publishing houses like Companhia das Letras.
The paper's format mixed comic strips, editorial cartoons, opinion columns, and short reportage, with designers and illustrators drawing on traditions exemplified by publications like Pif-Paf, Mad-style satire, and classical caricature linked to artists in France and Spain. Regular comic strips and cartoons lampooned public figures from ministries and cabinets to personalities in entertainment, referencing events such as the FIFA World Cup matches covered by Brazilian journalists and cultural episodes involving singers like Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Literary and humor pieces made allusions to novels and plays by authors including Jorge Amado, Graciliano Ramos, and Nelson Rodrigues, while interviews and reviews discussed films by Cinema Novo directors and theatrical productions staged at venues in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Due to its confrontational tone, the paper faced repeated clashes with censorship bodies operating under the dictatorship, including prosecutions and temporary seizures linked to decrees enacted during the AI-5 period and interventions by security agencies patterned after those in other authoritarian regimes. Contributors risked legal action and police harassment similar to actions taken against artists such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil during the military regime. The paper's satirical treatment of ministers, generals, and politicians resonated with opposition movements and was referenced by activists who later participated in campaigns like Diretas Já and the founding of new parties such as the Workers' Party and coalitions involving leaders like Ulysses Guimarães and Tancredo Neves.
At its peak the weekly reached significant circulation in urban centers, selling in neighborhoods of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo and competing for readership with mainstream dailies like Folha de S.Paulo and O Globo. Critical reception mixed praise from novelists, playwrights, and musicians—figures from the artistic intelligentsia like Chico Buarque and Caetano Veloso—with condemnation from conservative politicians and supporters of the military regime. The paper's readership included students involved in the 1968 protests, workers connected to unions active in São Paulo factories, and journalists who later moved into television newsrooms at networks such as Rede Manchete and print editorial teams at publishers like Editora Abril.
The publication left a lasting mark on Brazilian journalism, satire, and cartooning, inspiring later satirical programs on television and radio and influencing magazines and comic artists across Latin America. Past contributors became prominent in cultural institutions, academia, and broadcasting, joining faculties at universities like the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and working in television with networks such as Rede Globo and SBT. Its archives are cited in studies of censorship, media resistance, and cultural production alongside scholars who examine the period of the military regime and the transition to democracy involving events like the Constituent Assembly (1987–1988). The paper's model of irreverent political commentary informed generations of cartoonists, journalists, and satirists across publications and platforms that followed.
Category:Newspapers published in Brazil Category:Satirical magazines Category:Publications established in 1969