Brazilian Politics Society and Economy

Message to the Brazilian people

A “Stedile, dead or alive” ad has been circulated on social media. Presenting him as leader of the MST and "enemy of the Fatherland", the author offers a reward of R$10,000 for those who can fulfill this request. In other words, the ad is encouraging and promising to pay to kill a person, in this case João Pedro Stedile of the national coordination of the MST.

There are indications that this criminal action originated from the personal Facebook account of Paulo Mendonça, a municipal guard from Macaé (RJ). And it was immediately reproduced by most of the social networks that on a daily basis spew hatred of the people's movements, migrants, the Workers Party and now, especially against President Dilma Rousseff. They are the same social networks for the most part who are organizing for protests on March 15 to demand that Dilma,  legitimately elected in 2014, step down from the office of President of the Republic.

The authorities have been contacted so that the author of the ad and all those who are posting it can be investigated and brought to justice, since they are guilty of incitement to murder.

But the posting is only a reflection of the sectors of the Brazilian elite who are willing to promote a wave of violence and hatred in order to destabilize the government and take back the power that they lost with the PT's electoral victory in 2002.

Around 220 people from encampments from 20 classes of Youth and Adult Education (EJA) met on Saturday (January 10) to start along the road to literacy.

The people, who were from encampments in six locations in the south of Bahia, participated in the inaugural class of the "Yes, I Can" Project, whose slogan is "Yes I Can read and write. This is an achievement of the MST."

By Iris Pacheco

In an interview with the MST web site, Alexandre Conceição, from the MST national coordination, says that the role of social activism in this election was instrumental in the re-election of President Dilma Rousseff (PT), and states that "social movements have the big challenge of continuing to struggle for structural reforms in Brazil. "

On Sunday morning August 31, more than three thousand landless families occupied the Santa Monica Fazenda, located between the municipalities of Alexânia, Abadiânia and Corumba (GO). The farm, registered in the name of Senator Eunício Oliveira (PMDB-EC), is a complex of more than 20,000 hectares, self-declared as unproductive.

On Monday July 14 the MST published a letter about the police repression of a protest that was carried out before the final World Cup game in Rio de Janeiro. Hundred of demonstrators were surrounded in the Saens Peña Plaza and could only leave after the end of the game.

Tear gas and rubber bullets were launched indiscriminately and even the wounded were prevented from leaving the area. The police had illegally arrested around 20 people on the previous day.

Here is the letter:

Letter denouncing the State of Siege in Rio de Janeiro

On Monday July 7, various social movements like the MST, People's Uprising of Youth, Consulta Popular, the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), and the World March of Women (WMW) carried out actions and artistic events throughout the country on the National Day of Action for a Constitutional Referendum .

By Igor Carvalho and Glauco Faria

With a presence in 23 states and the Federal District and with more than 900 settlements with 150 thousand families, the MST celebrates its 30th anniversary this week.

The year 2013 won’t be missed by the Landless throughout the country. Regarding the struggle for land, the balance is positive, due to the demonstrations, marches and occupations of land and public buildings that occurred almost throughout the year.

But when referring to Agrarian Reform policy, almost nothing has been done, and in many cases the government walked backwards. This is the assessment of João Paulo Rodrigues Chaves, from the national coordination of the MST, on the agrarian policy stimulated by the federal government during all of this year.

As Rodrigues stated, something that has always been bad in this government became even worse. “So far, only 159 families were settled around the country. It's a shame. There were 10 properties expropriated by the Dilma government. Worse than the last military government of General Figueiredo, when 152 properties were expropriated," he says.

Check out the interview:

by Joao Pedro Stedile, National Coordination of the MST

It is usual to take advantage of the year-end period, forever doing the critical balance of losses, achievements and progress in the various sectors of activities of our society.

Unfortunately for workers who live in the countryside the balance of 2013 is anything but optimistic. Briefly we could track several defeats that the movement of capital in imposed.

The process of concentration of land ownership and agricultural production continues to accelerate and our natural resources are increasingly concentrated in the hands of fewer capitalists. There was an avalanche of foreign financial capital to control more land, more water, more plants, more agro-industries and virtually all foreign trade of agricultural commodities. And some of them are already buying up the oxygen of our forests, the famous way of carbon credit, then resold in European exchanges to permit Europe to maintain its pollution!