By Brazil Stock Guide – A federal judge in Volta Redonda has ordered steel producer Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional (CSN, CSNA3.SA) to provide Brazil’s National Archives with full access to records created before the company’s 1993 privatization, according to O Globo.
The newspaper reported that the ruling, issued on Wednesday, covers documents generated while Brazil’s military regime embedded the National Intelligence Service inside CSN starting in 1977. The court also directed the National Archives to conduct a new technical inspection within 15 days to resume work on how the files should be cataloged and preserved.
CSN must open every facility where pre-privatization files are stored and begin identifying, classifying and evaluating the archives under federal oversight. The company is required to pay the costs involved.
The decision stems from a public civil lawsuit filed by federal prosecutors, who will supervise the process. Judge Frederico Rego wrote that the state is responsible for protecting Brazil’s cultural and historical heritage, adding that records produced when CSN was still state-owned should have been transferred to the National Archives at the time of privatization.
According to O Globo, CSN continued to treat the documents as private for decades, restricting access on confidentiality grounds. The ruling also cites investigations by civil-society groups alleging human-rights violations linked to CSN during the dictatorship, reinforcing the importance of the files for Brazil’s efforts to establish truth and historical accountability.
CSN may appeal the decision.