Sob o céu com o pé na terra: a ação da Cáritas Diocesana de Limoeiro do Norte no Baixo e Médio Jaguaribe – Ceará – Brasil (2002-2019)

Abstract

On this research we seek to understand the actions of Diocesan Caritas of Limoeiro do Norte city, a social institution of the Catholic Church, in territories along the upper and lower Jaguaribe river valley in State of Ceará. The time frame was from 2002 to 2019, when the institution was responsible for provoking struggles in rural communities formed into a territorial political network of resistance, basing its actions on the paradigm of coexistence with the semi-arid region. These actions were undertaken in a context of advancing capitalist relations in the countryside, where the growth of irrigated fruit farming was linked to the increase in large-scale water structures, such as weirs, irrigated perimeters and dams, in addition to the permanent use of pesticides. From this, Diocesan Caritas de Limoeiro do Norte, as well as the whole territorial political network of resistance, was responsible for meeting the demands of the communities and mobilising the processes of struggle and resistance in the region. In the development of the research, we promoted the analysis of the experiences of three communities: Lagoa dos Cavalos (Russas-CE), Caatingueirinha (Potiretama-CE) e Lapa (Iracema-CE). From these villages, we observed the identity markers that delineated and were delineated by the actions of the institution and in these territories. As resources, we used various sources, such as: reports, newspapers, interviews, videos, letters, minutes of meetings, triennial plans, primers, legislative codes and books. This research is part of a set of studies developed by the Center for Studies on Memory and Territorial Conflicts (COMTER) of the Federal University of Ceará.