The Geographic Principle of Connection vis-à-vis the "Universalization of Basic Education" in Brazil – The Transamazon Case (in the State of Pará)

[Original title: O princípio geográfico de conexão frente à “universalização do ensino básico” no Brasil – o caso transamazônico (no estado do Pará)]: This article discusses the universalization of education across the national territory, drawing from a specific spatiality – the places along the margins of the Transamazon Highway. It questions the scope and effectiveness of the expansion of access to basic education, which has been considered "practically achieved" in the country. We depart from the geographic principle of connectivity/connection, problematizing such educational universalization. Our aim is to reflect on the reach of basic education, its conditions, and its capacity – or lack thereof – to enhance the diversity of the territory. Methodologically, grounded in a dialogue between phenomenology and existentialism, we conduct a theoretical review through confrontation with the preliminary empirical data of the research. We conclude that the universalization of education is configured as an argument of extermination, which enacts an urbanocentric vision and, through the connectivity between places and the territory, produces the disconnection of the places themselves, stripping them of their capacity for communicative action – which undermines education not only at the local level, but also at the regional and national levels.