Movement reaches the milestone of April 17, mobilizing more than 50 thousand activists from 20 states and the Federal District
Every April is a month of struggle for the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), a date that marks the National Day of Struggle in Defense of Agrarian Reform, launched in 2025, with the main actions between April 1st and 17th, International Day of Peasant Struggles. With massive mobilizations, including marches, vigils, demonstrations, protests, solidarity and occupations, during this period the Landless families mobilized 55 actions nationwide, chanting the slogan: “Occupy to Feed Brazil!”
With over 50,000 activists mobilized, the activities took place in all major regions of the country, present in 47 municipalities in 20 states: Tocantins, Pará, Maranhão, Piauí, Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Sergipe, Alagoas, Bahia, Mato Grosso, Goiás, Rio de Janeiro, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul; also mobilizing activists from the Federal District in actions in the central-west region. And there are still actions planned until the end of the month.
In addition to demonstrations and protests, 28 land occupations were carried out, 2 new camps were formed and 5 public agencies linked to the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) were occupied, with the purpose of advancing negotiations for the expropriation of unproductive areas that do not fulfill their social function, in order to achieve settlement for the families camped there, in the country where there is one of the largest concentrations of land in the world.
The mobilizations also mark this April 17th, the memory of mourning and struggle of the martyrs of the Eldorado do Carajás massacre, which occurred on the so-called Curva do S stretch of BR-155, in Pará, 29 years after the tragedy that shook Brazil and the entire world, with the murder of 21 landless rural workers, who were killed by the Military Police during a march, where hundreds of peasant families demanded the right to Agrarian Reform. Pablo Neri, from the national leadership of the MST in Pará, highlights that: “In 29 years, in this land of struggle that is the Amazon, which is the Curva do S, poetry, music and speeches mix with cries of indignation and demands for justice. The interrupted march of Eldorado do Carajás exposes the cruelty of the elites and the revolutionary capacity of the popular organization. The Youth Camp, the JURA [University Conference in Defense of Agrarian Reform], the occupations and mobilizations in Pará keep this memory alive.”
In addition to demanding democratization of access to land in light of the debt of 145,000 families living in camps throughout the country, the demonstrations highlight Agrarian Reform and peasant family farming as structural solutions to end hunger in the country, considering that even with the advances in the resumption of important public policies for the eradication of this social ill, there are still at least 21.6 million Brazilian households living with food insecurity, whether severe or moderate.
Agrarian Reform and popular mobilization strengthen democracy
Even with the new announcements by the Lula government, since the beginning of his term, less than 5,000 MST families have been settled and many of these settlement processes have not yet been effectively implemented. Ceres Hadich, from the national leadership of the Movement, states that the mobilizations of organized families have not only symbolic but mainly political repercussions, which are important for solutions to emerge with the necessary speed, considering that there are at least 65 thousand families camped for decades awaiting Agrarian Reform.
“This year of 2025 has been marked by many events that have sought to trigger a process of forces both to resume the agrarian reform agenda with Brazilian society, but concretely to continue pressuring in negotiations, moving forward with the government so that it can make concrete deliveries,” says the leader. With this, two visits by President Lula are planned to carry out deliveries this April, one in the state of Pará on the 25th, and another in Paraná on the 30th. Thus, Ceres points out that both the struggles of the Journey carried out by Landless Women last March, and the April Journey, have been essential to consolidate concrete achievements for the advancement of Agrarian Reform in the current situation. “And we have understood that, in fact, in this process and in this movement of the agenda with the federal government, the signals from the visit to Minas Gerais in March and now, from the two upcoming visits, still in April, that President Lula has indicated, are the result of this process of accumulating strength, of negotiation and also of the president's response to this demand that the movements have presented, of him being, in fact, closer to the people, of him making concrete deliveries, but more than that, he is also, as a great leader of the masses, encouraging popular mobilization and organization, because we know that this is important for the popular struggle, as well as for strengthening democracy and the government.” – Hadich points out.
Check out the mobilizations that took place during the Journey between April 8th and 17th:
SANTA CATARINA
Abelardo Luz
On April 8, around 100 MST activists from Santa Catarina marched in the municipality of Abelardo Luz to deliver the Agrarian Reform agenda to INCRA, demanding the creation of settlements in the public areas of Fazenda Itália, located in Abelardo Luz, and Fazenda Sementes Prezzotto de Chapecozinho II, in Xanxerê. In addition to the creation of settlements in other regions of the state. The Landless Workers also called for urgent registration of families camped in Rio Negrinho, in the Rosenilda Ferreira camp, in addition to social assistance and infrastructure for all of the Movement's camps in the state.
PARANÁ
Almirante Tamandaré
On the 8th, starting at 6:30 p.m., a Political and Cultural Act in Defense of Agrarian Reform was held, with the presence of authorities and a musical performance by Oswaldo Rios and Rogério Golin, from the group Viola Quebrada, at the headquarters of Sindijus, in Almirante Tamandaré.
Curitiba
On the 9th, two simultaneous negotiation hearings were held with authorities and public bodies. One of them will be in the auditorium of the Federal Institute of Paraná, with agendas related to the development of settlements and Agrarian Reform cooperatives, progress in public policies to support food production and access to education. The other hearing will take place in the auditorium of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA-PR), with members of over 80 encampment communities fighting for the establishment of settlements, and the presence of representatives from INCRA, the Secretariat for Food and Nutrition Security of the Ministry of Social Development, the National Supply Company (Conab), Banco do Brasil, the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA), the Institute for Rural Development (IDR), among others.
In addition to the action in the capital, MST communities mobilized in cities in the interior to demand that Banco do Brasil speed up its service to settled families, guaranteeing access to credit policies and strengthening production in the settlements.
Maringá
To mark the International Day of Peasant Struggle, April 17, around 100 activists from the Movement were at the State University of Maringá (UEM), where a ceremony was held to inaugurate the Monuments in memory of the Eldorado do Carajás Massacre, created by the artist Jorge Pedro Lemes.
The memory of the ongoing massacres has generated indignation against impunity and violence in the countryside and was attended by comrade Maria Zelzuita, a survivor of the massacre, who gave an account of the bloody day she experienced and her resistance in the fight for land over 29 years of impunity. The “Our Roots” monument was inaugurated in 2003 and is undergoing its second renovation, composed of eucalyptus trunks and tools from the Landless Workers themselves. In this latest renovation, a new installation called “Flowers for the Landless” was built, where the author says: “To the men, women and children, in whose veins runs the courage that I never had, I offer this bouquet of iron flowers.” The MST Peasant Orchestra, made up of children and adolescents, concluded the event by renewing hope and dreams of continuing the fight for People’s Agrarian Reform and social justice. As a symbol of resistance and the continuity of the struggle, a baobab sapling and a Brazil nut sapling were planted near the construction site.
Also participating in the event were Leandro Vanalli, dean of UEM; Gisele Mendes de Carvalho, vice-dean of UEM; João Pedro Stédile, from the national coordination of the MST; Lenir de Assis, federal deputy (PT) for Paraná; Father Genivaldo Ubinge, Archdiocese of Maringá; Rafael da Silva, pro-dean of extension and culture at UEM.
MATO GROSSO
Cuiabá
Around 500 rural workers, campers and settlers from all regions of Mato Grosso occupied the headquarters of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) in Cuiabá (MT) on the morning of April 9 to denounce the strike and the lack of priority in meeting the demands of the state's peasant families.
GOIÁS
Crixás
With the progress of negotiations with Incra in Goiânia, over the course of 5 days in the first week of April, the formation of a new camp in the municipality of Crixás, called 8 de Abril, was consolidated. The 260 families that make up the camp have already been registered by Incra and are still waiting for the progress of the settlement process so that they can obtain their housing and engage in family farming production.
PIAUÍ
Nazária
On April 10, around 300 landless families occupied the Mangal Farm, in the municipality of Nazária, in the metropolitan region of the capital Teresina. The farm of then Senator Marcelo Castro is in a state of abandonment, the result of a failed mango cultivation project, and the families camped there are demanding that the area be used for Agrarian Reform and for family farming.
PERNAMBUCO
Catende
On April 9, 80 landless families occupied an area in the municipality of Catende (Lajes Grande District), in the Mesorregião da Mata Pernambucana, demanding the land for Agrarian Reform purposes.
Arcoverde
On April 9, around 100 MST families occupied the Malhada Farm, in Arcoverde (PE), an unproductive large estate, demanding the land for the production of healthy food.
Ouricuri
The Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) of the Araripe Region occupied the Boa Esperança Farm in the municipality of Ouricuri (PE) with 300 families, demanding the expropriation of the large estate for Agrarian Reform purposes. The action reinforces the historical struggle of the families for access to land and food production, while they await the State's decision on the expropriation of the property.
Moreno
On April 13, 120 landless families occupied an area known as Xixaim, in the municipality of Moreno, in the metropolitan region of Recife, demanding the same for the settlement and development of the unproductive area for the production of healthy food.
Recife
On Tuesday, April 15, the Landless Rural Workers Movement in Pernambuco held a march in Recife with around 4 thousand activists, to pressure public agencies to move forward with the agrarian reform agenda in the state.
The activity began at Praça da Chesf, in Torrões, west of Recife. Then, the rural workers marched for almost six kilometers to the regional headquarters of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), an agency linked to the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA), of the federal government. The movement has publicly criticized the agency's slowness and technical difficulties in advancing the distribution of land. From Incra, the activists continued on a shorter stretch of two kilometers to Praça do Derby, in the neighborhood of the same name, in the center of Recife. There, the Landless Workers waited for the arrival of activists from other allied popular movements, in addition to the population that sympathizes with the MST's struggle. And, between early and mid-afternoon, the group finally marched for another almost three kilometers to Palácio do Campo das Princesas, the headquarters of the government of Pernambuco. In addition, there was an intervention in front of the Hospital da Restauração, where a Landless Workers' Movement activist was hospitalized after being brutally run over during the march by an as yet unidentified criminal driver who drove into the activists during the march, leaving one of them in a coma and in a serious health condition. The Movement and family members continue to demand justice for the attempted murder committed by the offender, and ask for help in identifying him, as well as prayers for the recovery of the injured member, who remains in the ICU, monitored by medical professionals.
Orocó
Around 400 landless families formed the Terra Nova encampment in the municipality of Orocó, in the São Francisco region, with the aim of advancing negotiations with INCRA for the expropriation of unproductive land, for the settlement of these families, as well as to advance the production of peasant family farming.
RIO GRANDE DO SUL
Triunfo
Around 400 landless families occupied, in the early hours of April 10, an area of 1,700 hectares of CEEE Transmissão, on the banks of the Taquari River, in the municipality of Triunfo, which is abandoned and has no social function. The MST advocates the recovery of the area with agroecological production and denounces the government's failure to act towards the families that remain encamped in the state. Pelotas
On the morning of this Thursday (April 17), students in the Selection Process for the 6th Class of Veterinary Medicine received a visit from the Rector of the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), Ursula Rosa da Silva, and Vice-Rector Eraldo Pinheiro. The reception was marked by an emotional mystical event in memory of April 17 and the Eldorado do Carajás Massacre, organized by young people from various regions of the country who participated in the second phase of the course selection process.
São Jerônimo
On April 17, in São Jerônimo (RS), around 100 activists from the Landless Workers' Movement gathered in a productive area in São Jerônimo to hold an ecumenical event in memory of the 29th anniversary of the Eldorado do Carajás Massacre, to remember that each fallen comrade reaffirms our fight for Agrarian Reform and justice in the countryside.
ALAGOAS
União dos Palmares and Teotônio Vilela
On April 14, around 1,500 activists blocked stretches of the BR-104 highway in União dos Palmares and the BR-101 highway in Teotônio Vilela, in Alagoas. The roads were blocked in the morning in a unified action by the state's land struggle movements. Peasants camped on land that previously belonged to the bankrupt estate of the João Lyra Group are holding a demonstration to demand non-compliance with the agreement with the State Government to allocate the areas for Agrarian Reform. The blockades, organized by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), National Struggle Front (FNL), Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST), Popular Struggle Movement (MPL), Social Struggle Movement (MSL), Via do Trabalho Movement (MVT), Land, Labor and Freedom Movement (MTL) and Free Land Movement (TL), mobilized hundreds of people in the two parts of the state, as part of the agenda of the National Day of Struggle in Defense of Popular Agrarian Reform, which takes place throughout the country during the month of April.
BAHIA
Salvador
From April 14 to 17, around 800 activists from the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST), coming from various regions of Bahia, were mobilized in Salvador as part of the National Day of Struggle in Defense of Popular Agrarian Reform. The state camp was set up in the parking lot of the Secretariat for Rural Development (SDR), in the Administrative Center of Bahia (CAB), and brings together rural workers in a major collective effort of resistance, dialogue and popular organization.
The aim of the activists' presence in Salvador was to engage in dialogue with the state and federal governments so that they can advance on urgent issues of the People’s Agrarian Reform. The main points include the unblocking of existing settlements, obtaining new areas for the settlement of encamped families and the strengthening of public policies aimed at peasant production. During the days of mobilization, the activists held meetings with INCRA, with state government departments and promoted political training activities, internal debates, mystical moments and dialogue actions with society. On April 16, at 4:30 p.m., a political event was held in memory of the 21 lives brutally taken by the Military Police of Pará. The massacre, which has not yet been met with justice, has become a symbol of the historical violence against those who fight for land in Brazil and reinforces the need to continue marching for justice, land and dignity.
Also, on Wednesday (April 16), activists from the Movement donated 150 food baskets from the Agrarian Reform camps and settlements to families served by the São Daniel Parish, in the Sussuarana neighborhood, in Salvador (BA).
ESPIRITO SANTO
Vila Velha
On Thursday (April 17), around 80 representatives from the coordination of the camps and settlements in Espírito Santo met with members of INCRA, in Vila Velha. At the meeting, the MST presented the collective agenda, demanding the advancement of agrarian reform in the state, specifying the different situations of the families camped and settled and the areas in the state's territory.
SÃO PAULO
Presidente Prudente
On the morning of Thursday (April 17), International Land Struggle Day, more than 150 activists from the Landless Workers' Movement (MST), from the Pontal do Paranapanema region (SP), held a demonstration in front of the regional office of the Itesp Foundation, in Presidente Prudente (SP).
The mobilization denounces Law No. 17,557/2022, which establishes the state land regularization program and allows the government of São Paulo to negotiate public lands occupied by large landowners with a reduction of up to 90% of the value — a direct benefit to land grabbers and a burden on public assets.
Currently, Pontal do Paranapanema is home to around 200 families camped out, organized by the MST, who are awaiting the collection of land for settlement. The Tarcísio de Freitas government (Republicans) did not create any People’s Agrarian Reform settlements and, in practice, has favored land concentration, increasing social inequalities and environmental crimes — such as deforestation and contamination by pesticides — linked to the expansion of the sugarcane agribusiness.
Guararema
On April 17, around 50 MST activists gathered at the Florestan Fernandes National School (ENFF) to hold a political and cultural event in honor of the martyrs of Eldorado do Carajás, where 21 fruit tree seedlings were planted. Each tree represents a life; and each fruit, a legacy that continues to nourish, inspire and strengthen us on our journey. PARÁ
Eldorado do Carajás
This Thursday (April 17), around 500 activists from the Landless Workers' Movement gathered at Curva do S, reaffirming the annual tradition, with the holding of a political-cultural act in memory and justice for the comrades who fell in the Eldorado do Carajás Massacre. With much mysticism, slogans and reflection, the Landless Workers once again transformed mourning into a struggle to continue organizing for the achievement of democratization of access to land and the construction of a dignified life in the countryside, where the brutal violence of the massacre is transformed into indignation and popular organization committed to the achievement of rights for rural workers. During the event on the morning of this Thursday (April 17), the national launch of the University Day in Defense of Agrarian Reform, JURA 2025, also took place.
In addition, the 19th Oziel Alves Pereira Landless Youth Pedagogical Camp was held there from April 10 to the 17th, with around 350 landless youths beginning another intense training journey with various activities to strengthen the ranks of the fight for Popular Agrarian Reform.
MARANHÃO
São Luís
This Tuesday (April 15), the 11th edition of JURA-UEMA began, with a program focused on discussing the appreciation of rural individuals, their demands, public policies and the right to education. 40 people were present, including members of the MST coordination, UEMA teachers and a representative of SEDUC.
In the afternoon, a roundtable discussion was held to discuss the curricularization of extension programs at universities, the challenges for popular projects, direct dialogue with communities, and the role of peasants in research. The presence of the coordinator and students from the Roseli Nunes Rural Education Center, Cigra settlement (Lagoa Grande), was essential to reinforce reflections on the peasant reality and Rural Education.
TOCANTINS
Caseara and Marianópolis
On April 17, International Day of Peasant Struggles, 47 families from the Beatriz Bandeira Camp, located on the banks of the TO-080, between the municipalities of Caseara and Marianópolis, occupied the highway in memory of the martyrs of Carajás.
Monte do Carmo
On the morning of April 17, 100 families occupied part of the Santa Adyla Farm, which belongs to the Union, in order to reclaim an area that had been illegally occupied in the Taboca settlement, in the Serra do Taquaruçu, in Monte do Carmo (TO).
Porto Nacional
On the afternoon of this Thursday (April 17), more than 40 families, camped out from two resistance territories, the Dom Celso and Maria de Lourdes camps, held a vigil on the TO-455, in the municipality of Porto Nacional, in memory of the 21 rural workers murdered in the Eldorado do Carajás massacre.
Fortaleza do Tabocão
On Wednesday (16), there was a political event at the Veredas Training Center, the former warehouse of the Sinuelo Farm, which was the stage for the contract delivery ceremony to the 58 families of the Olga Benário settlement, located in Fortaleza do Tabocão, Tocantins.
*To check out the actions carried out in the first week of this year's Journey, click here.
To see dozens more photos of the demonstrations and occupations, click here (and scroll down).
