MST Informas

Dear friends of the MST,

The week in Brasília we followed two more sessions of the Congressional Commission of Inquiry of Land (CPMI). Established in the beginning of 2004, the objectives of the CPMI were to analyze the progress of Agrarian Reform, the social movements of workers and landowners, and to investigate the causes of rural conflicts and violence in order to identify concrete solutions to the Agrarian Reform problems in Brazil.

On May 17, after walking more than 230 kilometers, the 12,000 workers who took part in the National March for Land Reform ended their mobilization in Brasília (DF).

At the conclusion of the MST's National March for Agrarin Reform, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva received 50 MST leaders and guests of the Movement. Lula once again promised to guarantee the necessary resources to fulfill the goal of settling 400,000 families by 2006 . “If we do not fulfill the goals of Land Reform, we will have a problem with our conscience‿, he stated. On the following day, a meeting with the Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rosseto, affirmed the hiring of 137 employees for INCRA and the opening of 1300 jobs, besides the other eight points related to concrete measure to speed up Land Reform, including the change in the productivity indexes that define when a property is productive, a new special credit for the settlement families, the guarantee of a restructuring for INCRA, basic food baskets, and a priority of settling 120,000 families by the end of this year. About the 16 points that the MST discussed with the people along the route of the March, the government was silent.

Two tons of foodstuffs per day, divided into 24,000 meals. In order to feed the 11,000 men, women, and children participating in the National March for Agrarian Reform (Marcha Nacional pela Reforma Agraria) 23 kitchens were set up, one in each state, and based in Anapolis (GO), a city located half-way along the journey.

*The MST distributes biweekly updates that FMST-US volunteers translate and make available. Please read the latest below.*

This MST Update #87 from April 1, 2005 includes:

1. FEATURE ARTICLE: Why do we need agrarian reform?

NEWS BRIEFS
2. Three Landless Workers Remain Imprisoned without Justification in Paraná
3. Nonviolent Marches Mark the Second Anniversary of the Iraq War

*The MST distributes biweekly updates that FMST-US volunteers translate and make available. Please read the latest below.*

MST Update #88 from April 20, 2005 includes:

1) FEATURE: "On the Indices of Productivity"

NEWS BRIEFS:
2) Demonstration in Carajás Attracts 10,000
3) Confessed Guilty, Chafik is Freed by Authorities
4) Settlement Invests in the Production of Herbal Medicines in Paraná

Dear Friends of the MST,

On May 2, 12,000 men and women workers left the city of Goiânia headed to Brasília so that together they can march, protest and call society’s attention to the serious situation of poverty and inequality in the countryside. Coming from 23 states, these men, women, and children will go on foot for 17 days for the 200 kilometers between the two cities. Among them is a 97 year old man, Luis Beltrane, who is making his third march to the capital. The people are making a collective sacrifice, using their own bodies as a tool for struggle in search of a more dignified life for Brazilians.

Dear Friends,

We would like to let you know about yet another victory of solidarity between Brazilians and the peoples of the world: the inauguration of the Florestan Fernandes National School (ENFF), on January 23, 2005. Built in Guararema (60 km/36 miles from São Paulo) by 1,115 rural landless workers, the School is the valuable fruit of our struggle. It represents four and a half years of work by volunteers from the settlements and encampments across the country. A work realized by many hands already calloused by the hoe.

January 6, 2005

MST Update #81: Results of Agrarian Reform in 2004: Expropriations Don’t Pay Attention to Settlement Goals

MST News Briefs:
-3 Landless Killed in Pernambuco
- Brazilian Army and MST Build WSF City