This article analyzes sources related to the pro-amnesty campaigns conducted in 1945 and between 1975 and 1979, seeking the meanings the political actors attributed to the act. The article highlights the connection between the amnesty and "pacification of the Brazilian family" in both contexts and points to an ongoing process of transformation, in which the amnesty stopped being considered a tool of reconciliation to be treated as a tool for the achievement of rights. This comparative effort between the amnesties of the end of the Estado Novo (New State) dictatorial regime and the one of 1979 (beginning of the transition from dictatorship to a civilian rule) aims to contribute to the historical research for the current debates in Brazil about the legacy of the dictatorship, the search for clarification and justice.
amnesty; Estado Novo; dictatorship of 1964; reconciliation