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Jagunço
Jagunço, from the Spanish zarguncho (a weapon of African origin, similar to a short lance or chuzo) was the name applied to armed hands or bodyguards, usually hired by farmers and "colonels" in the backlands of the Northeast of Brazil, to protect their lands against invaders and feudal enemies, and also to control their slaves and indentured servants. Some farmers formed their own private militias with a number of heavily armed jagunços.
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