PARAGOMINAS - PA | 4K

In the 1950s, the colonization of the municipality of Paragominas was carried out by peasants who arrived in the region before the construction of the Belém-Brasília highway. In 1958, precisely with the pioneer Ariston Alves da Silva, he crossed the Capim Basin and established the first rice plantation. They were followed by the colonization companies: Colonizadora Belém Brasília, Colonizadora Marajoara, and Cidade Marajoara, which were unsuccessful. Later, the federal government announced the establishment of a federal colony in the region, which never came to fruition, as well as state plans for the establishment of two colonies in that territory. It is also recorded that even before the peasants arrived, with authorization from the State Government, businessmen from Goiás had penetrated the forest along the Capim River, aiming to survey and title land for buyers from Uberaba, Minas Gerais, and Itumbiara, Goiás. Subsequently, the proximity of the Belém-Brasília highway sparked a strong demand for land among landowners from Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, as well as land speculation companies from São Paulo. At the same time, peasants entered the region's lands, aiming to compete with "grileiros," who issued false titles and secured them through the use of force. There was a rapid concentration of property in this climate of violence, and colonization attempts failed. The municipality gained autonomy in 1965, during the Jarbas Passarinho administration, through Law No. 3,235 of January 4, formed from an area separated from part of the São Domingos do Capim district and part of the Camiranga district, which belonged to the municipality of Viseu. On May 10, 1988, through Law No. 5,450, during the Hélio Gueiros administration, its area was separated to create the municipality of Dom Eliseu, formerly a settlement called Felinto Muller, which was elevated to the status of a district. The first mayor of Paragominas was Amílcar Batista Tocantins, appointed by the federal government. The city's name is an abbreviation of three states: Pará, Goiás, and Minas Gerais. The municipality also attracted a significant number of immigrants from the South in the 1990s and early 21st century, some of whom were businesspeople in the agricultural sector and many of whom were unemployed and seeking a better life with employment and a low cost of living.