Carlos Chagas na “guerra dos rios”: A passagem da comissão do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz pelo rio Iaco (Alto Purus, território federal do Acre, 1913)

Abstract

The writing of the Relatório sobre as condições médico-sanitárias do vale do Amazonas (Report on the medical and sanitary conditions in the Amazon Valley) is analyzed from the perspective of the macro- and micropolitical implications of the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz’s expedition to the departments in the federal territory of Acre. The analysis focuses on the interactions between Carlos Chagas, Pacheco Leão, and João Pedroso and judges, doctors, and rubber barons from the Yaco and Caeté rivers at the town of Sena Madureira, capital of Alto Purus, in January 1913. The scientific report was also influenced by the contact the commission members had with the major players in the rubber industry and their resulting immersion in local and regional political conflicts.