Who was the nun from Ribeirão Preto, SP, persecuted and tortured by the dictatorship The history of the military dictatorship in Brazil has one of the most striking chapters in Ribeirão Preto (SP) and one of the most important figures, too: Mother Maurina Borges da Silveira. She lived in Lar Santana, in the Campos Elíseos neighborhood, and her life was transformed after being arrested by the regime in 1969 accused of collaborating with opposition groups. This report is part of the series 'Hidden Stories', a special production by EPTV, a TV Globo affiliate, to celebrate Ribeirão Preto's 170th anniversary, celebrated on June 19th. Curiosities, notable characters and facts that few people know help to understand the trajectory of one of the most important cities in the state of São Paulo. ✅Click here to follow the g1 Ribeirão e Franca channel on WhatsApp During the dictatorship, the nun was subjected to torture and her case gained national attention. Mother Maurina ended up exiled in Mexico and decades later, her name remains associated with the defense of human rights and resistance against abuses committed by the military regime. Mother Maurina Born in Minas Gerais and a member of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Maurina arrived in Ribeirão Preto to run Lar Santana in 1969. During the toughest years of the military dictatorship, young people linked to the resistance used a room at Lar Santana to produce clandestine newspapers and hold political meetings. Mother Maurina during exile in Mexico after being arrested in Ribeirão Preto, SP Saulo Gomes/Personal Archive According to reports from the time recorded in the research Versões de Maurina: the trajectory of Maurina Borges da Silveira in literary narratives, Mother Maurina was aware of the activities linked to the production of newspapers, but not of the armed actions of members of the organization Forças Armadas de Libertação Nacional (FALN). In November 1969, after the arrest of members of the group, the nun was detained by repression agents. Accused of subversion, she began to answer for alleged collaboration with organizations considered enemies of the regime. Torture and national repercussion During the period in which she was imprisoned in the Tremembé Penitentiary, Mother Maurina reported having been subjected to sessions of physical and psychological torture. In letters and statements given years later, the nun reported electric shocks, threats, humiliation and harassment during interrogations carried out by repression agents. The repercussion of the case led the Catholic Church to take a public stance. In Ribeirão Preto, the then archbishop Dom Felício da Cunha Vasconcelos excommunicated two delegates identified as responsible for the torture suffered by the nun. The episode is considered a milestone in the change in the stance of sectors of the Catholic Church in relation to the military regime, which began to be denounced for human rights violations. In 1970, Mother Maurina was included in the list of political prisoners released in exchange for the Japanese consul Nobuo Okuchi, kidnapped by armed resistance groups. The nun was sent to Mexico and remained in exile for 14 years. She returned to Brazil in 1979 to follow the process that resulted in her acquittal due to lack of evidence. His definitive return took place in 1984, when he resumed his religious life, where he continued until his death in 2011, at the age of 84. Mother Maurina returning to Brazil in 1979 Yugo Koyama Lar Santana More than ten years after being deactivated, Lar Santana currently shows signs of abandonment. Rooms, corridors and external areas suffer from deterioration caused by time. Despite this, the property remains one of the main symbols of the memory of the military dictatorship in Ribeirão Preto. Recently, the building was occupied by groups that defend the preservation of the history of politically persecuted people. The proposal is to transform the old orphanage into a space of memory dedicated to the victims of repression and the trajectory of Mother Maurina. Internal courtyard of Lar Santana, in Vila Tibério, in Ribeirão Preto, SP Chico Escolano/EPTV *Under the supervision of Flávia Santucci See more news from the region on g1 Ribeirão Preto e Franca VIDEOS: Everything about Ribeirão Preto, Franca and the region