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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Brazilian peasants vow to keep seized land |
| 2004-04-16 |
| Leaders of Brazil's landless movement are vowing not to give up any of the hundreds of farms seized by thousands of peasants this year. They also will keep pressing for sweeping reform that, if carried out, would radically change the land ownership map in Latin America's biggest country. Thousands of peasants belonging to the militant Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) were also on the march, due to converge Friday on several Brazilian cities to protest the killing eight years ago of 19 landless peasants by military police in the northern state of Para. "Our orders are simple -- Not one step back! We will keep pressing the government to speed up land expropriations to distribute among peasants," Claudio Amaro said. He was one of 40 leaders at the 2,037-acre (825-hectare ) Santa Justina farm just 45 miles (70 kilometers) southwest of Rio de Janeiro, occupied by hundreds of landless people since late March. A few meters from him, stirring the lunch of the day —black beans and pasta— for about 50 of the settlers, Eliane dos Santos da Conceicao couldn't agree more: "Nobody will take me out of here; I am here to stay." Both Amaro and Conceicao echoed other MST leaders who, over the past few days, have made it clear there will be no truce in the wave of land invasions. The MST has occupied 76 farms across Brazil with almost 100,000 people since March to pressure the government into speeding up land reform. Under Brazil's 1988 Constitution, the government may expropriate land considered unproductive after compensating the owners at fair value. "Land reform must be speeded up. We are not calling for a revolution right now, but we need a faster reform," Valquimar Reis, of the MST's national board, said in an interview. In the world's fifth largest country, land theoretically shouldn't be a problem. But according to official data, 3.5 percent of landowners hold 56 percent of the arable land while the poorest 40 percent own a scant 1 percent. According to the MST, there are 200,000 families in camps they run. Lack of land is a recurrent source of violence, such as the incident in Para state whose April 17 anniversary has sparked the ongoing wave of land invasions. In the past 20 years, 1,671 peasants have died in land-related conflicts according to data compiled by the Roman Catholic church's National Land Reform Council. The March 24 occupation of Santa Justina took place peacefully, Conceicao said. "Hundreds of us came in at dawn holding hands, singing religious and patriotic songs, and praying. We broke the lock securing the fence," she said. "Why did we do it? Because we all want just a piece of land to plant on and make a living. As a maid nearby I could make 200 reals a month (about US$70). Here I can hold out hopes that my children will do better than I do." Ricardo Lemos, one of the farm owners, had a different view. "The invaders came in holding their picks, machetes and scythes. They seized a property which is legally registered since 1924 and, because it is part of the Atlantic coastal forest, is an environmentally protected area; no farming can be done on most of it." Lemos said. He said the owners were suing in local courts to regain control of the area. After seizing the farm, the MST group set up dozens of tents made out of tinted plastic and bush wood. About 150 huts cram the main farm road, with small huts barely fitting two beds and larger ones housing up to three families. The occupation bore all the marks that have made the MST one of the most powerful social movements in Brazil's history — the new settlers looked disciplined and well organized. Most organizers like Amaro developed ideological roots in the leftist-inspired Liberation Theology of the Catholic church. But they are also heavily influenced by Marxism. "We want a more just Brazil. But we don't see real justice without Socialism," Amaro said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #5 Sorry Mr Lachmansingh, but are'nt you actually arguing that people should not try to make money? That becoming rich is a crime against humanity? If so, I realy do not like your POV very much. |
| Posted by: Evert Viser in NL 2004-04-17 5:13:27 AM |
| #4 I don't like you Mr. Beef. You obviously don't recognize that this "instability" only exists because people are hungry enough to protest and smart enough to realize that Governments, like donkeys, need to be prodded in order to move forward. Sorry for the farm owners? At least the farm owners have access to formal education and should be able to rationalize that concentrating wealth tends to piss people off. |
| Posted by: Dylan Lachmansingh 2004-04-17 4:41:04 AM |
| #3 3.5 percent of landowners hold 56 percent of the arable land Thank G*d for the NW Ordinance and the Homestead Act. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-04-16 11:25:34 AM |
| #2 *sigh and frowns* I'm aware of this "liberation theology" -- the upper echelons of the church've denounced it as a distortion, and in fact, though the situation of Jean-Bertrand Aristide leaving the clergy were murky, he was definitely dumped from his order for his emphasis of it. |
| Posted by: Edward Yee 2004-04-16 1:51:54 AM |
| #1 These people are one step away from Colombia's F.A.R.C. or E.L.N. This MST is a danger to the region's stability. Lula da Silva is tied in closely with this group, too. This is the Cuban Revolution all over again. I feel sorry for those farm owners. It's just like what Mugabe and his thugs are doing in Zimbabwe. |
| Posted by: Kentucky Beef 2004-04-16 12:48:27 AM |