CONCESSION OF PUBLIC SERVICES IN THE TRANSPORT SECTOR: THE INTENSE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT, FRENCH CAPITAL AND A BRAZILIAN RAILWAY DURING THE FIRST REPUBLIC (1910-1920)

Abstract

In this article, we will analyze the relationship between members of the government (federal and Minas Gerais state), directories and shareholders of Rede Sul Mineira and the banking house Perier & Cie., one of the representatives of French capital in Brazil. The period chosen between the years 1910 and 1920 is justified by two reasons: first, it was the period in which Companhia Estradas de Ferro Federais Brasileiras - Rede Sul Mineira, the company analyzed, assumed a railroad concession in the south of the state of Minas Gerais; secondly, this same period coincided with the rise and fall of the volume of French loans made in Brazil. Thus, it was possible to perceive how the relations between a concession of public services, political class and capital involved - whether public or private, in this case foreign and French - are intense and obscure. The case of the South Mineira is perhaps one of the most emblematic of the railway sector, since it made it very clear that such relations were institutionalized in the Brazilian Republic more than 100 years ago, despite the conflicts and frictions that occurred in the process.

Keywords
Railways; Concession of public services; French capital; Rede Sul Mineira; Government members