Furnas Power Plant and Developmentalism in Brazil (1952-1965)

Abstract

In the 1950s there was remarkable change in the pattern of expansion of the electric power system in Brazil due to the growth of State’s participation, which has occupied space until then controlled by foreign enterprises. In 1957 began the construction of Furnas Power Plant, in Rio Grande, in support of industrial investments fixed in the Goals Program of president Juscelino Kubitschek (1956-1961). Conceived in the field of engineering and policy of the state of Minas Gerais, this power plant was presented as essential to the whole country, and in particular for the development of so-called South-Central region. Through the analysis of engineers and administrators’ testimonies, it’s this paper’s intention to unveil the social fabrics that conditioned the public policies associated with the construction of Furnas Plant.