7. Widespread Fear of Bandits Coexisted With Significant Public Support for Bandit Bands
There was no significant firearms trade in Brazil at the time, so Lampiao and his men lacked access to readily purchased weapons. Nonetheless, they were well armed – sometimes better armed than the policemen and soldiers sent after them. They secured many firearms either by theft from police and paramilitary units, or purchase from corrupt security officials. Mauser rifles and various types of pistols and revolvers were also collected from fallen or captured security personnel after successful clashes. The gang’s most commonly used weapon was the Winchester 44 rifle. Thus armed, they attacked farms and towns in seven states. It is perhaps a mistake to romanticize them too much: they rustled cattle, looted, kidnapped, murdered, tortured, mutilated, and committed all kinds of assaults, including sexual. Lampiao came to be seen as a heroic figure in later years, but at the time, his passage through any region caused widespread terror.
As indignant press reports put it: “Isn’t it a shame what is happening or rather continues to happen in the Brazilian northeast? And the public authorities, what guarantee do they offer to the unfortunate country people hit by all the calamities? Even magistrates no longer escape Lampeão’s attacks. (…) This is why inhabitants always have expressions of disbelief on their lips when promised measures to disinfect the backlands from the hordes of horrible bandits who make the region the most unhappy in the world“. Nonetheless, Lampiao and his band were often protected by supporters known as coiteiros: small farmers, workers, and even some local authorities who offered shelter and food to the cangaceiros within their lands. That facilitated the bandits’ movement throughout Northeast Brazil, and helped them evade pursuing government forces.
