The Construction of the Institutional Narrative in Contrast to the Journalistic Discourse on “Operação Acolhida”

• In Event: Migration in the Americas

Abstract

In this study, we analyzed the news published on the Brazilian Federal Government website, with regard to institutional posts about Operação Acolhida (OPA), an initiative to manage Venezuelan migration in the country. By filtering searches using the term “acnur” (the portuguese translation for UNHCR), we obtained a total of 57 articles, between the period of August 2018, the year the Operation began, until May 2025. Our objective is to investigate how the discourse on the participation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is portrayed throughout the existence of the OPA. We noted how the idea of ​​“cooperation” is always present in the publications, at the same time that much of the process management is strongly linked to the role of the agency, with the internalization of migrants in the country being an example of this. In this sense, we consider the role of Public Communication in the notions of transparency/opacity with regard to the data presented, as well as the discussion on national sovereignty, with regard to the limits that exist between the Agency's participation and its developments. In contrast to the narratives broadcast by the Government Portal, we compare them to the reports produced by Agência Pública, which raise allegations of human rights violations through journalistic articles and issues involving the OPA's activities. Through critical analysis of the discourse, we point out the construction of a partial perspective of the reality of the migration context in Brazil through institutional means.

Author

• Laura S Souza, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco