by Luciana Lima
Reporter Agency Brazil

Brasilia - The lack of debate and new ideas to combat the global financial crisis means the government and the entrepreneurial class cannot solve the current economic issues. This is the view of the leader of the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), João Pedro Stedile, who in an interview to Agência Brasil, said the government is afraid of the debate on the crisis. "The government is afraid to lead in the debate on the crisis, fearing the electoral impact," he said.

The MST is participating in the demonstrations in defense of the working class and against the worldwide economic crisis alongside the most representative groups of the union, student, and people’s movements on Monday (March 30). The protests against the crisis, which were discussed in the Assembly of Social Movements in the World Social Forum will take place in all the capital cities in the country. These demonstrations are planned to take place between March 28 and April 4 throughout the world.

Indians celebrated the ruling as a confirmation of land rights they were granted in 1988 [AFP]

The Amazon's indigenous groups have won a major victory with Brazil's Supreme Court upholding the integrity of a vast native reserve.

by Plinio Arruda Sampaio

Published in Folha de S. Paulo, March 16, 2009

Today, the MST is struggling against an intermittent type of attack: an attack sponsored by enemies visible and invisible.

By Immanuel Wallerstein

This article appeared in the March 23, 2009 edition of The Nation.

There seem to me to be two occasions, which require two plans for the world left, and in particular for the US left. The first occasion is in the short run. The world is in a deep depression, which will only get worse for at least the next one or two years. The immediate short run is what concerns most people who are facing joblessness, seriously lowered income and in many cases homelessness. If left movements have no plan for this short run, they cannot connect in any meaningful way with most people.

Women from La Via Campesina mobilized last week on March 8th for International Women’s Day. The fight is our historic tool to denounce the agribusiness model which is socially unjust and environmentally unsustainable. We also question the role of the State, which in the wake of a deep structural economic crisis, chooses to aid big private companies which exploit our country, its biodiversity, our natural resources and leave our workers unemployed.