Belém
May 8, 2000

On April 17, 1996, the government declared war on our people. The massacre has not yet ended, and we are living through the slaughter with more strength today. In addition to the suffering inflicted the day of the massacre, we continue to suffer in the bureaucratic corridors of hospitals and state agencies, and feel the pain of the physical and psychological traumas left by the bullets of those who declared war on the poor in this state and in the country.

It is in this situation of complete abandonment that the 53-year-old worker Batista Penha died yesterday (May 7) at 11pm. He was a survivor of the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, which now claims 21 fatalities, including him.

His death was a direct consequence of the effects of the Military Police's truculent actions, but what accelerated his death were the terrible conditions of the treatment Governor Almir Gabriel is providing to those who were mutilated in the attack.

The Governor, who spends millions in propaganda, refuses to give adequate treatment to victims who are surviving with difficulties--some with bullets still lodged in their bodies--although the courts of the state of Para have required that the state make all the necessary payments for the medical treatment of these people.

The worker's body will be given a wake tonight in the April 17 settlement, and buried tomorrow in Eldorado Cemetery.

When workers take to the streets to demand their rights they are labeled "marginals", "disorderly", etc.; the imprisonment of protesters and the fabrication of inquiries in order to criminalize the MST become routine. So we ask: would President Fernando Henrique Cardoso ever call for the imprisonment of Almir Gabriel? Who will pay for this crime?

The Landless Worker's Movement feels deeply the loss of a comrade and calls on all social movements and human rights defenders to pressure the state government for adequate treatment of the survivors of Carajás.

As to the Governor and his clique, in this moment our response is silence. Time shall bring justice.

How many more Eldorados will we have to endure?

MST state board
Landless Workers Movement of Pará

Translated by Sarah Town