SOURCE: www.mst.org.br
March 6, 2002

The Third National Camp of Women Rural Workers will occur from March 6 to 8. The camp is named Margarida Alves, in homage to a rural union leader from the state of Paraíba who was murdered during the 1980s.

The camp is a moment of struggle and resistance to the neoliberal project, which generates misery and social exclusion in the countryside. It also marks International Women's Day. During the three days that the camp lasts, there will be a series of activities, such as public assemblies, cultural events, study periods, debates, marches, and public acts.

For Acácia Maria Feitosa Daniel, a member of the MST State Directorate for the state of Sergipe, the camp represents a space for mobilization and struggle against the economic model being implemented by the government of President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, which marginalizes agriculture, bringing misery to the countryside. "We must construct a popular project for Brazilian agriculture, with agrarian reform, redistribution of income and wealth and agricultural policies," according to Acácia Feitosa. In addition, the camp demands of the government healthcare, education and a universal public pension system. In the state of Sergipe, the mobilization is occurring in the capital city of Aracaju. It is occurring in the Praça dos Capuchinhos, a public square in the América neighborhood, and includes close to 700 people from all over the state.

Close to 1,000 women linked to rural social movements will be camped beginning today in the Praça dos Martírios, in Maceió, capital of the state of Alagoas. According to Sister Cícera Menezes, of the Pastoral Commission on Land, the women will be defending causes such as the implantation of a unitary healthcare system with popular participation and societal control, the implantation of agrarian reform and a real agricultural policy, and the guarantee of legal documentation and citizenship for all women.

In São Paulo state, the camp set up in Ibirapuera Park (near the obelisk) includes 300 women, who have been there since March 4. They are struggling for agrarian reform, denouncing persecution and violence against workers, and demanding the release of colleagues who have been under arrest for a month.

Close to 1,500 women set up a camp today in Porto Alegre. These female workers have installed themselves at the Tesourinha gymnasium. They intend to stay until Friday, March 8, when they will celebrate International Women's Day.

This is the third year of the women's camp. The first one occurred March 14-17, 2000, in Brasília, with representatives from every region of the country. The following year, the mobilization was March 5-9, in each of the states. The activity is organized by the National Articulation of Female Rural Workers (ANMTR), which brings together organizations and social movements, among them the MST.

Translated by FMST volunteer Gabriel Ondetti.