Prinetti Decree
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The Prinetti Decree was a ministerial normative act approved by the General Commissariat of Emigration in Italy on March 26, 1902, which prohibited sponsored emigration to Brazil. The ordinance was named after the then Italian foreign affairs minister, Giulio Prinetti, and approved based on a report denouncing the situations experienced by immigrants on coffee plantations, especially in the post-abolition period.[1] Despite banning the sponsored migration of Italians to Brazil, the decree did not restrict spontaneous migration, which means that Italians who wanted to move to Brazil would have to buy their own tickets, without relying on the Brazilian government.[2][3]
Promoting immigration to Brazil
During the period of great immigration, in the last decades of the 19th century, shipping companies such as Navigazione Generale Italiana, La Veloce, the French Transports Maritimes, which sailed from Marseille, Ligure-Brasiliana, and others, obtained licenses from the Italian government to transport immigrants whose tickets were paid for by the São Paulo government (sponsored immigration). The flow of African slaves was replaced by an influx of Italian workers desperate to get rich quickly, turning shipping companies into promoters of a new model of human traffic. The violence of slavery was replaced by the persuasive lie that Brazil was the land of quick enrichment. For many years, the Italian government did not worry about emigration and looked upon it favorably, since at that time of economic depression, emigration would prevent the internal order from being disturbed by the permanence of that discontented mass of workers, keeping the social balance and the status quo intact. In addition, emigrants contributed to the Italian economy through the funds they sent back home.[1]
Reality of life and work in Brazil
However, when the settlers arrived at the farms, they found terrible living conditions, isolated from urban centers, with no medical care, no school for their children, small houses and no minimum hygiene conditions. While working in the fields, the foremen watched over the settlers throughout the day and the abuse involved physical violence, even the use of whips. They also controlled their family and social activities. The settlers were unable to obtain legal protection against these abuses by the farmers, who also exploited them economically, imposing penalties for frivolous reasons, confiscating their produce and falsifying weights and measures, as well as withholding their wages. The situation worsened when coffee prices began to fall significantly from 1895 onwards. Once this situation was revealed, a document known as the Rossi Report, compiled by the inspector Adolfo Rossi, was drawn up and sent to the Italian authorities. Based on this report, the Prinetti Decree was issued.[1][4]