11/17/03	Media clash in Brazil: A Distant Mirror -- After a quarter-century of intensive grassroots organizing and a victorious presidential campaign a year ago, Brazilian social movements are in a strong position as they push the left-wing Workers Party government to fulfill its promises. The contrast to Washington’s current political climate is as diametrical as the opposite seasons of the two countries. Yet Brazilian activists are now giving heightened priority to the same concern that preoccupies an increasing number of people in the United States -- the imperative of challenging the corporate media. (Norman Solomon)
11/11/03	Adital's Interview with national MST leader Gilmar Mauro -- This Monday, November 10, more than 1000 rural workers will be leaving Goiania and walking to Brasilia. This march, organized by the Landless Workers Movement (MST) is going to the national capital to pressure the government to approve the National Agrarian Reform Plan. Gillmar Mauro, MST's national coordinator, believes that this is a very important step for changing and improving life in the countryside. He states that this is a struggle of the movement that will not tolerate interference from any government or political party! He also believes that the Lula government represents an advance for rural workers, and that never before has a President allied with Agrarian Reform ascended the ramps of the Presidential Palace. (Adital/Rogeria Araujo)
10/30/03	Agrarian Reform at the Witness Stand: 17 Rural Workers Imprisoned -- A Message from MST Human Rights Section Regarding the Rise in Criminalization of MST Leaders for which URGENT ACTION IS NEEDED. Also read two short news briefs on (despite the one year lift on the ban) mobilizations against GMOs mounted in Brasilia and the MST meeting with the minister of justice regarding the increased criminalization of social movements. (MST Human Rights Section www.mst.org.br)
10/30/03	Current Issues for the MST in Brazil -- This letter offered greeting and an analysis of current events in Brazil to a gathering of Friends of the MST that met in New York City on September 21. Noted in the letter is the increase in violence against the MST (matching military dictatorship days), the increased criminalization of MST leaders, the increase in families participating in occupations in anticipation of settlement by Lula's administration, the MST's collaboration with the new government in the areas of literacy and agricultural products from settlements in the Zero Hunger basic food basket. The MST is also participating in a team that will develop a plan for agrarian reform. Agrarian reform progress has been slow as Lula will have settled less families than last year under the Cardoso administration. The MST needs solidarity now more than ever. (MST Letter to Friends of the MST in the US)
7/31/03	MST MEETS WITH PRESIDENT LULA -- This update contains information regarding the MST's July 2nd meeting with President Lula in Brasilia. Included are: (1) a letter written by MST leader Joao Pedro Stedile to the Friends of the MST, (2) the proposal given by the MST to President Lula, and (3) an interview with Joao Pedro regarding what transpired at the meeting. (MST National Direction & Brasil de Fato)
7/25/03	MST Update #44 -- July 25 marks the Day of the Farmer. This update includes a letter by Frei Betto, entitled "A Land Drenched In Blood," that commemorates those daring to dream that with so much idle land they may find the piece of earth that may redeem them from poverty and the risk of ending up in a favela in the city. Frei Betto recounts the historical violence used to uphold the country's inequitable distribution of land archaic capitalism. This update also includes information on the arbitrary arrest of MST members Jose´ Rainha and Felinto ProcÛpio. (MST Informe)
7/12/03	Political Realism Doesn't Mean We Ditch Our Dreams: Brazil's Experiement Shows Full Democracy Requries Social Justice. This update includes a letter written by President Luiz Ignacio Lula da Silva. (The Guardian)
7/7/03	MST Update #43 -- This update includes a comment regarding the political rhetoric and historical inaction of agrarian reform in Brazil. (MST Informe)
5/30/03	MST Update #40 -- This update includes a letter in defense of agrarian reform and family agriculture, new breifs, and an article regarding new challenges of the Brazilian grassroots movements. (MST Informe & Social Network for Justice & Human Rights)
5/16/03	MST Update #39 -- This update includes the text of the Bishop's Declaration Against Transgenics, as well a news brief on the destruction of a Montesanto plantation in Paraná, and an urgent action demanding amnesty for imprisoned Via Campesina leader José Bové in France. (MST Informe)
5/11/03	MST Update #38 -- This update includes the text of the letter to Lula and a description of all the signitories, as well as news briefs on the new MST Agrarian Reform store opening in MAranhao and the release of MST leaders imprisoned in Goias.(MST Informe)
5/1/03	MST Update #37 -- The MST is mobilized throughout Brazil today, April 17th, International Day of Peasant Struggle as they build momentum in their Campaign Against Latifundios or large land estates.(Mst Informe)
5/1/03	Brazilians Left Without Measures to Identify Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) -- This article talks about how Lula recently sign Provisionary Measure 131 authorizing commercialization of genetically modified soy and details the juridical battle over GMOs in Brazil. (Brasil De Fato and Via Campesina)
4/30/03	MST Children are Commemorated on World Health Day -- On April 7th, during the ceremony in commemoration of World Health Day, the MST received a medal from OPAS (Pan-American Health Organization).(World Health Day)
4/16/03	Brazil's Landless Workers Movement -- This informative reader provides MST background information, areas where the MST takes direct action, policy work and global partnerships and struggles as well as a resource list that includes Brazilian and international sources. (Americas Program at the Interhemispheric Center (IRC))
4/16/03	MST Update #36 -- This update includes: MST, together with Via Campesina, launches a campaign against the concentration of land ownership. Also, the MST along with other sectors of the Brazilian left have launched the new newspaper Brasil De Fato....and more!(MST Informe)
4/8/03	Manipulation by the Media -- In recent days, the so-called 'grand press' has devoted a lot of space to the MST, but, as usual, in order to attack us. Irate editorials, big headlines, provocative photos, and stories exaggerated to create a climate of war in the countryside. (Brasil De Fato)
4/8/03	MST Update #33 -- This MST Update includes a report on how international boycoots will bring anti-war pressure to a new level, MST families in need of solidarity in Sao Paulo, Justice for fallen MST leader Dorcelina Folador and more!(MST Informa)
4/8/03	OAS Opens the Case of the Massacre at Eldorado dos Carajas -- An informant from the OAS (Organization of American States) Interamerican Commission of Human Rights confirms the formal opening and deliberations in the case of the massacre of nineteen rural workers in Eldorado dos Carajás in the state of Para. The OAS conceded two months for the Brazilian government to present its observations on the case. If the state is condemned, it will have to pay indemnity to the families of the victims, and to adopt legislative and administrative measures to avoid similar violations in the future. (Rede Social de Justiça e Direitos Humanos)
4/8/03	MST Update #34 -- This MST update includes their position on GMOs and the Seed Campaign, the MST's commemoration of International Women's day, info on the National Campaign on Planting Beans in Goias and more!(MST Informa)
4/8/03	Capitalism and the War -- The Congress of the U.S. is currently debating the budget for 2004. They are expecting total costs to be 2.23 trillion dollars. Of this total, 390.4 billion will go toward military spending. (Almost 20% of all public spending.) In the military budget, they are planning to spend 57 billion dollars on scientific studies for new weapons. (While Europe spends on average US$7,000 per soldier in scientific military studies, the US spends US$28,000 per soldier.) Further, the US government is estimating that a war with Iraq will cost anywhere from US$50 - 200 billion. Thus, they are predicting a fiscal deficit of 304 billion dollars. How is the US government planning to cover this debt? By circulating dollars abroad and gathering capital from periphery countries. Conclusion: the US economy is going to try to save itself from the current crisis by spending money on arms and having Third World countries pay for this spending. We will be the ones paying for the war. (Poratim)
3/10/03	Biotechnology and Brazilian Agriculture -- Rick Greubel, President of Monsanto Brazil, responds to João Pedro Stedile and Jean Marc Von der Weid's Folha article.(Folha de São Paulo)
3/10/03	The Poisonous Legacy of FHC -- It's been four years since the National Technical Commission on Biosecurity (CTNBio) of the Brazilian Ministry of Science and Technology "approved" the first commercial use of a transgenic or genetically modified product in Brazil: a soybean strain resistant to the herbicide Roundup (both the seed and the herbicide are produced by the North American multinational Monsanto). João Pedro Stédile of the MST and Via Campesina Brasil and Jean Marc von der Weid of National Voice for Agricultural Ecology highlight the illegal use of genetically modified seeds in Brazil, as well as Monsanto's pressuring of democracy.(Folha de São Paulo)
2/17/03	Landless, Jobless, But Not Hopeless -- Solidarity with Lula and social movements in Brazil is thus an important challenge for the global justice movement. It is important that US progressives undertake a campaign to understand, explain and defend hopeful developments emerging there. The last time anything this stirring politically has happened in Latin America was perhaps the 1970 election of Salvador Allende in Chile. That alone should remind us that if another world is possible, its sudden appearance in Brazil cannot be taken for granted.(The Nation)
2/17	Families Run the Risk of Eviction in Sao Paulo -- The 700 families, with more than 200 children, of the Encampments Terra Sem Males and Irmã Alberta run the risk of being evicted at dawn from tomorrow (Thursday, 2/13). There has been some information indicating that the eviction will occur at 4AM which is forbidden by law. The encampments have been located on the Ithaye Farm, which belongs to Sabesp (the Basic Sanitation Company of São Paulo State) since July 2002. Read on to find out what you can do to help!(MST/SP)
2/17/03	MST Update #32 -- During the third World Social Forum, an assembly of social movements convened. Below are some of the passages of the final document that was developed on that occasion...also MST News Briefs include No to War, Solidarity for French Farmers and more!(MST Informe)
12/20	Campaign for the freeing of political prisoners in Mato Grosso -- Since July 29th, eight landless workers are detained in the jail of the town of Mirassol d'Oeste, in the state of Mato Grosso (MT). All eight are accused of robbery for allegedly participating in the sacking of food that happened close to the farm where they are camping. (Human Rights National Section/ MST)
12/3/02	Two Models of Development and Land Reform -- Guided by the slogan "Occupy, Resist and Produce," the MST initiated a direct action model of land reform wherein landless peasants occupy an unproductive parcel of land, petition the Brazilian government for land rights, and operate the settlement as a collective enterprise. This model of land reform is now being challenged by the World Bank's attempts to solve the immense landless problem in Brazil by using "market mechanisms" to purchase land directly from the owners by the landless and then to force peasant families to survive in the global agricultural market. The outcome of the struggle between these two models of land reform is not at all certain. What is certain is that the result will impact Brazilian land reform for many years to come. (Z Magazine)
11/12/02	Brazil's General Election 2002 -- As carnival-like celebrations calm, Juan Blanco Prada takes a look at what expectations and obstables lie ahead for the Lula presidency.
11/12/02	The Man With the Plan -- Last week, Luiz Inacio da Silva, 57 -- known to everyone as Lula -- was elected president of Brazil. Lula, who was born into extreme poverty and never got past elementary school, rose to become a trade union leader and founder of the Workers' Party. After losing three previous elections, this time he downplayed his left-wing credentials and promised to maintain the fiscal discipline of outgoing President Fernando Henrique Cardoso. Now, American investors are wondering whether Lula's move to the center is sincere or a tactic. Can he handle the expectations he has aroused, given Brazil's economic woes? Two days after his victory, he sat down with Newsweek-Washington Post's Lally Weymouth for an exclusive interview. (The Washington Post)
11/12/02	MST's Brief Reflection on the Elections and the National Political Conjuncture -- Immedidately after the October 27 second round of Brazilian elections, the MST released the following brief analysis.(MST)
11/5/02	Law and Politics Likely to Curb Power of Brazil's New Leader -- Mainstream media attempts to assure global elite that Lula will follow the "necessary economic course" by paying back the foreign debt and highlights the limitations placed on the Lula presidency by the Brazilian Congress and through other measures. This NY Times articles suggests that the PT's left faction is "threatening to mobilize the MST and CUT if Lula makes "too many consessions" and "strays too far right." (New York Times)
10/30/02	MST's Stedile on Presidential Elections, Candidates Platforms -- The MST's Joao Pedro Stedile talks evaluates the 4 Presidential candidates, their agrarian reform platforms, the elections and democracy and more...(Folha de Sao Paulo)
10/30/02	MST's Health Sector -- For the MST, the concept of health is not about having medicine or clinics. Health also involves the environment, hygiene, cleanliness, and the well being of everyone. Thus, health is how and where you live, what you eat, and how you make a living. It is feeling well physically, being mentally at peace, living in a family setting where there is respect, affection, and equality among all, respecting nature, and living in a society in which justice and equality go hand in hand. (MST website)
10/30/02	Brazil's Democracy Takes a Chance -- BOSTON - The potential contradiction between democracy and markets is nowhere more apparent than in Brazil this month. A leftist candidate, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known as Lula, won 46 percent of the vote in the first round of Brazil's presidential elections on Oct. 6, twice the share of the next contender, centrist JosÈ Serra. Current polls show Mr. da Silva poised to win the runoff elections on Oct. 27. This would change the political map of Latin America, where no leftist party with both high ambitions and democratic credentials has had a chance at national power in more than a decade. (New York Times, Od Ed)
10/2/02	Has Lula Sold Out? -- Roger Burbach reports from Rio de Janeiro, offering his analysis on the leading Brazilian presidential candidate Lula da Silva.(Americas.org)
10/2/02	Brazil's Bishops, NGOs Launch Plebiscite on Americas Trade Block -- The National Conference of the Bishops of Brazil, political parties and non-governmental organizations launched Sunday a weeklong unofficial plebiscite on the proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas.The move is part of the Jubilee South Campaign, which debates the effect of globalization on Southern Hemisphere nations. Some 50 organizations including the bishops' conference, trade unions, minor political parties and students make up the Brazilian branch of the campaign, which is adamantly opposed to FTAA.(Associated Press)
10/2/02	MST Update #21 -- This MST Update includes articles and news briefs on the validity of the recent National Plebiscite on the FTAA and Alcantara, a new European documentary on the landless and an update from a Tent City of the US-based anti-poverty movement.(MST Informa)
10/2/02	MST Update #19 -- MST Update #19 includes an article about the Brazil's Presidential elections, the assassination of a Pataxó Hã Hã Hãe indigenous leader, MST in South Africa and how to subscribe to MST publications. (MST Informa)
9/24/02	Brazil's Consulta (Popular Plebiscite) Votes Are In! -- Of the 10,149,542 Brazilians who participated in the plebiscite on the FTAA, 9,979,964 (98.33%) maintain that Brazil should not sign the Free Trade Area of the Americas treaty, versus 113,643 persons (1.67%) who believe that Brazil should join this economic bloc. As for the results of the second question - whether Brazil should continue to participate in the FTAA negotiations - 95.94% voted no. 98.59% of the voters answered no to the third question - whether Brazil should deliver control over the Launch Base in Alcántara, in Maranhao, to the United States.(HSA Secretariat)
9/17/02	MST to Participate in US Tour -- MST Leader Salete Carollo will participate in these tours which will make stops throughout the US (NC, NY, VT, MA, KY, OH, IL, WS, IA, TN, VR, and DC)(FMST and Agricultural Missions)
9/12/02	MST Update #20 -- MST Update #20 includes an article about the implications of the Alcantara Space Center, the MST's website award from DHnet, an announcement for a Youth meeting in Para and more!(MST Informa)
8/24/02	Mística in the MST -- This article talks about the MST's use of culture and gesture to inspire hope. Sections include: gifts, the MST Flag, the Brazilian Flag, Celebration, Images and more.(MST website)
7/19	Brazil at Risk -- People talk about Brazil as being "at risk" as if the country's social statistics were not already sinking at alarming rates. The true risk is that Brazil will continue on its present course, exacerbating inequalities and perpetuating the exclusion of the majority of the population. Brazil should not fear becoming tomorrow's Argentina; rather, Argentina should fear becoming tomorrow the Brazil of ...(MST)
7/19	On the Frontier -- The landless workers movement in Brazil has radical solutions to the country's problems - occupying large farms, and growing food for the rural poor rather than giant corporations. (The Guardian)
7/19	MST Update #18 -- This MST Update includes: Popular Participation in the Presidential Election by Plínio de Arruda Sampaio which describes the independence of the MST in the elections as well as News Briefs on irrigation projects in Sergipe and the sale of MST organic mate tea in Europe.(MST Informa #18)
7/17	More on Alcântara: The US Plans to Open Space/Military Base in Brazil -- More information about the Alcântara Space Base and threat of US military control over the Amazon. Articles include: Aggression Against the Communities and Sovereignty of Brazil; Cardoso Cedes Alcântara to the United States; Status of the Accord; Campaign Against the Accord; The History of the Communities; Accord Violates the Constitution; and Alcântara Today.(Jornal Sem Terra/ MST's Monthly Newspaper)
7/15	Via Campesina Press Release -- The MST is a very active participant in Via Campesina, a global network of small farmers and peasants organizations. The following Press Release is a response and position statement for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) to be held September 2 - 11, 2002 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Via Campesina)
7/15	EL DORADO DOS CARAJAS TRIAL -- TWO TOKEN CONVICTIONS -- The verdict of the recent Eldorado dos Carajas trial is in - there were a colonel, 2 majors, a captain, 4 lieutenants, 11 sargeants, and 128 military policer officers who were charged. However, only one colonel and one major were convicted, and they are still free. All of the others were acquitted. The two convictions appear to have been only a symbolic gesture. (Rio Maria Committee)
7/9	Crisis Brews In Brazil As Leftist Presidential Candidate Seizes Lead -- A crisis is brewing in Brazil as Luis Inacio da Silva, the left-leaning candidate of the Workers Party, has opened up a wide lead in the upcoming October presidential elections. A victory by da Silva, commonly known as "Lula," would be a political jolt for South America...There are even differences between his party and the Landless Movement, or MST, the militant organization of farm workers organized throughout Brazil. Nevertheless, the huge activist organization has made it clear it backs Lula, and this support reverberates beyond the votes of the rank and file membership.... (Z Net)
7/9	MST in Alcântara -- Read this first hand report from MST National leader João Pedro Stédile after his return from a visit to Alcântara.(MST website)
7/3	MST Update #17 -- Update includes: Elections and Sovereignty article, MST Urgent Action in MG, MST Book in English and Alcantara event in Rio.(MST Informa #17)
7/3	Amnesty International Says Brazilian Activists Are in Danger -- Non-governmental organizations are warning that the police and the Justice Department see human rights defenders as potential enemies. They cite the tense climate in Pontal do Paranapanema in São Paulo as an example.(Correio Braziliense)
7/3	The Goal: To Grow as a Nation -- In an interview with the newspaper Estado de São Paulo, MST expert and USP professor Bernardo Mançano Fernandes, assesses the movement, speaks of its advances and errors. (Estado de São Paulo)
6/12	MST Activists Continue to Be Victims of Political Persecution in the State of São Paulo -- The MST is enduring a process of "criminal ization," their political activities defined as "criminal," with resulting violation of their human rights such as the ir freedoms of movement and expression and the inviolability of their homes.  These activities are supported by the governor of the state of São Paulo, who does nothing to impede police violations of the universal rights of the landless rural workers. In fact, the governor continues to privilege the desires of the large farmers and land d efrauders in the Pontal do Paranapanema.
6/12	New Sentence Confirm the Eldorado dos Carajás Trial is a Farce -- At 7:30PM, with a partially empty State Jury Court room, the acquittal of four lieutenants and two sergeants accused in the massacre at Eldorado dos Carajás was delivered. With 5 votes to 2, the jury decided to absolve lieutenants Jorge Nazaré Araújo dos Santos, Mauro Sérgio Marques da Silva, Natanael Guerreiro da Silva and Raimundo de Souza Oliveira, as well as ...(MST website)
6/3	Results Confirm the Farce: Colonel and Major Remain Free. -- At 7:20PM local time in the Court of Justice of the State of Pará in Belém, Judge Robert Moura announced the sentence that condemned the official, Major Jose Maria Oliveira, to 158 years and four months of reclusion. Despite the conviction of 04 votes to 03, the officer who commanded the Parauapebas troop in the Eldorado dos Carajás conflict, will wait in freedom for the ...
6/3	The Media Assesses the Agrarian Reform of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) -- For some time, the MST and various other rural movements have denounced as a farce the Agrarian Reform of FHC. However, it is only now, at the end of Cardoso's government, that the media has begun to denounce it. As such, this April the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo ran a series of reports unmasking the Agrarian Reform of FHC. The dirty trick [of the agrarian reform] is so badly done that ... (MST Informa)
4/27	Brazilian Government Accused of Inflating Numbers Benefiting from Agrarian Reform -- Raul Jungmann, the ex-minister of Agrarian Development and José Abrão, the current minister, have been accused of inflating the numbers of landless people who have been settled on new land.
4/17	Market-Based Land Reform Policy -- Statement from International Seminar on International Seminar on the Negative Impacts of World Bank held in Washington DC April 15-17, 2002 with representatives of Via Campesina and beyond.
4/10	The trial of the accused in the Massacre at Eldorado dos Carajas has been suspended! -- The Minister of the Supreme Court, Jorge Scartezzini accepted the thesis of the lawyers of the accusation and granted the suspension of the trial of those accused of the massacre until the argument of suspicion of Judge Eva do Amaral Coelho, made for the lawyers of the MST, is decided upon by the Court of Justice of Pará.
4/8	MST Position on the Middle East Conflict -- Faced with the serious situation of the Middle East conflict involving the state of Israel and Palestinian people, and of the international repercussions of the presence of a leader of the MST -- comrade Mario Lill -- and other leaders of Via Campesina who are with the leaders of the Palestinian National Authority, we are making clear our position.
4/1	Isreali Forces Detain 78 militants in Ramallah -- A civil mission headed to Palestine on March 27th to celebrate the Day of Land and to demonstrate its solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people.
3/28	Cardoso Government Continues Lying -- The month of March was marked by serious episodes for our country. Early in the month, the Federal Police entered the office of one of the businesses of Governor Roseana Sarney, taking documents and around $R1.4 million in cash. The purpose was not to investigate corruption but simply to create facts to fight the candidacy of the Party of the Liberal Front.
3/11	MST Calls on International Community -- An invitation to all the friends of the MST outside Brazil to mobilize and join us the week of April 8 to 11 in the city of belém to attend the trial of those accused in the Massacre of Eldorado Dos Carajás.
3/6	The MST celebrates International Women's Day -- 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.
3/1	URGENT ACTION: Send emails and letters demanding impartiality in the Massacre at Eldorado dos Carajas Trial -- Judge Eva Coelho do Amaral set April 8, 2002 as the date to begin the trial. In the first session, the 3 officers acquitted in August 1999 will be tried. In the second session, on April 15th, another 17 officers will be tried and in the third session, on April 22, a remaining 129 policemen will be tried.
2/26	URGENT ACTION: Campaign to Free Our Political Prisoners -- President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's "democratic" administration includes the arbitrary imprisonment of working men and women. There are currently 39 people (25 from the state of Pará and 4 from São Paulo) who are in jail, many without having been formally charged with a crime. In Pará 14 MST workers, 6 members of the Homeless Workers Movement and 5 members of the Ananindeua Land Occupation Movement have been imprisoned.
2/21	The Eldorado dos Carajas Trial Begins on April 8, 2002 -- Judge Eva do Amaral Coelho, of the 1st Criminal Court in the jurisdiction of Belim, yesterday signed an order setting the trial date of 149 military policemen accused of involvement in the massacre of 19 landless workers in the city of Eldorado, Carajas in the state of Para on April 17, 1996.
2/21	MST Participates in Poor People's March at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City -- Around 600 demonstrators took part in the March for Lives on February 8th in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. The demonstration took place at the same time as the Winter Olympic Games of 2002. The protest was aimed against the U.S. government, which had invested 3 billion dollars in the games while they continue to reduce social spending.
2/19	URGENT ACTION: Campaign For The Release Of Political Prisoners In Pará -- Please write to demand the immediate release of political prisoners in the state of Para.
2/15	URGENT ACTION: Please Send Letters Condemning Recent Attack On CUT's Office! -- Our three member delegation from the UE has just returned from the World Social Forum meetings in Porto Alegre, Brazil. While we could (and will) write more at length about the many wonderful and interesting things which occurred there, we are contacting you now to inform you of an extremely disturbing event which transpired while we were there -- an attack by ten uniformed men on the offices of the CUT, Brazil's largest and most progressive trade union federation.
2/8	World Social Forum: Final Declaration of Social Movements -- Confronting the continually worsening conditions, neoliberalism, and war, we the world social movement, tens of thousands of people, meet at the Second World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. Here in large numbers, in spite of attempts to break our solidarity. We gather again to continue our fight, ratifying accords from the previous year and reaffirming that "a different world is possible".
2/5	Alternative Forum: Global solidarity movement against the concentration of wealth, -- The second Global Social Forum (FSM) was closed this Tuesday with a party of lively music and the name "possible other world", a slogan of the event that has become the main event of anti-neo-liberal globalization on the planet and that had a turnout of 60 thousand, three times greater than the event of the past year.
2/1	Farmers March Against the FTAA -- Via Campesina, representing farmers and indigenous peoples, were joined by 35-45,000 others during the mobilization against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) during the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre Brazil.
1/23	Brazil landless group leader shot in shoulder -- The leader of Brazil's main pressure group for landless rural workers was shot once in the shoulder as he escaped an ambush in the west of Sao Paulo state on the weekend, a member of the group said.
1/21	A Plot of Their Own -- Thick as a truck at its base, the Brazil-nut tree rises 10 stories to an opulent crown, lord of the Amazon jungle. It takes the tree a century to grow to maturity; it takes a man with a chain saw an hour to cut it down.
1/11	2001: Year Balance of the Agrarian Reform that Never Happened -- Every New Year we hear the same story. The Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration gathers the press and presents its miraculous numbers about the growing numbers of families settled in the land. The government hires advertising agencies and buys more TV ads in which everything looks beautiful.
1/11	Land Takeover in Maranhão -- On January, 6, some 300 families of rural landless workers took over the Cantanhede Farm, in the municipality of Matões (MA). They had been camped for 9 months on the roadside of the BR 135 highway, in the municipality of Miranda do Norte. The decision to take over the farm was made because the INCRA and the state government of Maranhão did not honor their commitment to settle within 40 days all the families evicted from Tiracanga Farm last May.
1/11	Brazilian Organizations submit a document to new President of Argentina -- On January 9th, representatives of the MST, CMP, CUT, the Lawyers Union, the Migrants Pastoral, PT, PC do B and parliament members such as Senator Eduardo Suplicy and the Federal Deputy Luiz Eduardo Greenhalg delivered a document expressing their concerns with the crisis and their solidaity with the Argentine people. The document was delivered in an audience with the consul of the neighboring country, Mirian Chavez, and was addressed to the new President of Argentina, Eduardo Duhalde.
12/14/01	Government Allows Human Rights Violations -- This week the MST's Human Rights sector released a report with a partial survey of the human rights violations that occurred in 2001 against landless workers. The document highlights how the Brazilian government attacks and destroys the constitutional and legal guarantees that assure the landless, whether encamped or settled in land reform settlement projects, the right to the life, freedom, work and education.
12/14/01	Unrestricted Use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) May Be Approved -- The vote to approve GMOs will happen within the next few days in the Law Project of Federal Parliamentarian Confúcio Moura (PMDB/RO) in the Special Commission that evaluates the 19 Law Projects (PLs) on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) that passed in the House of Representatives. This report will come along with a PL Substitute to the 19 originals, to be voted on by the Commission. If approved, it will be the official PL of the Chamber for the vote in Congress.
12/14/01	MST Receives the 2001 Cândido Mendes Award -- Member of the MST National Leadership Committee, João Pedro Stedile, received the Cândido Mendes Award on December 11th for his tireless work for agrarian reform. The ceremony was held at the University of Cândido Mendes. The Public Democratic Ministry Movement and Senator Saturnino Braga received the Alceu Amoroso Lima Human Rights Award. The Freedom Award was given to Plínio de Arruda Sampaio.
12/14/01	Judge considers the Abuse of Power on FHC's Estate -- The use of Army troops to protect President Fernando Enrique Cardoso's Estate in Buritis, Minas Gerais, against an anticipated MST occupation was considered an "abuse of power" by the substitute Judge Adverci Mendes de Abreu of the Fifth Federal Jurisdiction of Brazil's Federal District. In her verdict, the Judge determined the total compensation for the damage caused to public safety. The decision was given in response to the public interest suit filed in 1999 by seven Workers Party members of the House of Representatives.
12/6/01	Urgent Action: Protect citizens in Rio Maria -- The situation in Rio Maria is extremely tense because of the assassination of an advisor of the former mayor, Agemiro Gomes, on November 4, and the return to Rio Maria of the escaped gunman José Serafim Sales, also known as "Barrerito," who had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for assassinating Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, president of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria. We are asking for letters, faxes, or e-mail messages to be sent to the Minister of Justice and the Governor of the State of Pará, demanding immediate measures.
11/30/01	MST Families Violently Evicted from Land -- About 500 families who had occupied the Farm Are Roque violently finish to be poured by the Shock troop of the Military Policy.
11/28/01	Rural landless workers and small farmers protest to renegotiate debts -- Rural landless worker families (MST) and the movement of small farmers (MPA) united on November 28 for a National Day of Struggle to demand that the federal government renegotiate the debts of the two groups.
11/28/01	Families that Occupied the São Roque Estate Were Violently Displaced by the Military Police -- Nearly 500 families who occupied the São Roque Estate on November 28, 2001 were violently displaced by the "Shock Troops" of Brazil's Military Police. Aside from not being granted a warning as well as it being illegal to carry out evictions at night, the policemen had arrived at the site beating the agricultural workers and destroying their huts.
11/26/01	URGENT ACTION: MST Worker Continues to Be Unjustly Jailed -- Agricultural worker Cristiano José Batista da Silva continues to be held in the Caruaru Penitentiary in Pernambuco state. He was imprisoned on July 23rd for participating in an action that occurred that same day in Taquatinga do Norte. After being imprisoned, Da Silva was tortured because he identified himself as leader of the MST.
11/20/01	US Senator Ted Kennedy Highlights the Need for Land Reform during the Presentation of the RFK Human Rights Award to Darci Frigo. -- Read US Senator Edward Kennedy's remarks made during the presentation of the RFK Human Rights Award to Darci Frigo of Brazil's Landless movement.
11/20/01	Brazilian Land Rights Activist Wins 2001 RFK Human Rights Award
11/19/01	Violence Against the People of the Land -- Increase in Violence against Rural Workers in Brazil: A recent article written by Maisa Mendonca published in Caros Amigos magazine
11/12/01	Attorney Defending Land Reform in Brazil Receives Human Rights Award -- A win for the MST, CPT and others struggling for land reform in Brazil as Human Rights Attorney Defending Land Reform Receives RFK Human Rights Award from the U.S. Senate
10/31/01	Amnesty International's 2001 Annual Report talks of rural violence and land rights -- This year's Amnesty International Annual Report includes sections on violence over land rights and the Eldorado dos Carajás and Corumbiara massacres. To view the entire text please visit, www.amnesty.org
10/23/01	MST and Agricultural Missions Ecumenical Justice Tour -- Agricultural Missions hosted a 3 week MST tour to churches and community organizations from September 27 - October 18, 2001. MST leader updated audiences on the MST and emphasized the need for solidarity among all social movements.
10/23/01	Brazil's land reform movement seeks awareness, solidarity -- A representative of Brazil's Landless Farmers' Movement is on a three-week U.S. speaking tour, describing both the struggles and successes of a growing effort against rural hunger and poverty and for environmental protection, especially of the Amazon rainforest.
10/19/01	MST participates in campaign to amend the Brazilian Constitution to limit rural properties -- The Brazilian Federal Constitution, in its 3rd Article states that "A fundamental objective of the Federal Republic of Brazil is to eradicate poverty and marginalization and to reduce social and regional inequality". There is nothing better than Agrarian Reform to achieve this objective.
10/18/01	MST Goes to the United States Embassy in Protest of US politics and in Solidarity with families of the victims of the September 11th Terrorist Attacks -- On September 3rd, the MST initiated the National "Eldorado dos Carajás" Encampment with close to 1,000 rural workers from 23 Brazilian states from organizations including the MST, MPA, ANMTR, MAB, CPT and others.
10/17/01	MST Receives the Alfonso Comín International Award -- The Landless Workers Movement was told Friday, October 5th, that they won the Alfonso Comín International Award in Barcelona, Spain. The award is given to people or groups that have distinguished themselves in the struggle for justice, liberty, peace and human rights by the Alfonso Comín Foundation and is now in its 18th year.
10/10/01	Landless Occupy the Federal Senate -- Today, close to 1200 agricultural workers occupied the Federal Senate building. Workers from various Brazilian states have been camped in Brasilia since September 3rd and represent several organizations
10/10/01	MST Receives International Human Rights Award -- On September 25th, the Brazilian Landless Movement received the Human Rights Award of the Municipality of Siero, Asturias, Spain. This is not the first time the MST has received an international award. In 1991, together with the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), the MST won the Alternative Nobel prize, awarded by the Right Livelihood Award Foundation of Sweden.
10/10/01	Justice Instead of War -- Via Campesina, an international movement that coordinates rural workers' organizations of small and medium-sized farmers, women, and indigenous communities in Asia, Africa, America, and Europe released this statement on its position about the events of September 11.
10/10/01	Agrarian Reform Association Contests UN Report -- The Brazilian Agrarian Reform Association (ABRA) is contesting what the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has to say about agrarian reform in Brazil in the FAO's "State of the World of Food and Agriculture -- 2001."
9/14/01	MST Sets Up National Encampment in Brasilia -- Rural workers set up a national encampment in Brasilia and mobilize forces in capital cities around the country from September 3 to October 12, 2001.
9/10/01	MST Under Increased Surveillance -- Five articles from the Folha de São Paulo newspaper published in early August highlighting covert action by the Brazilian army which includes espionage.
9/7/01	Urgent Action: MST's Plea for Continued Support of the Campaign for Justice and Against Impunity for the Massacre at Eldorado dos Carajas -- The work of the Campaign for Justice and Against Impunity--Eldorado dos Carajás continues. Our forces are being concentrated and now we seek attention for the restarting of the trial in September 2001.
9/7/01	Reconciliation between all Brazilians -- In response the Brazilian Government's accusations and espionage in connection to the MST, this Brazilian artist wrote a piece in defense of the necessity and moral character of the MST.
8/29/01	The MST and others initiate a national campaign of struggle against hunger, misery and the consequences of drought -- Commemorating Rural Workers Day, July 25th, a national campaign of struggle against hunger, misery and the consequences of drought was initiated in several Brazilian states, mainly in the Northeast where millions of people suffer hunger and thirst, many resulting in death, and whom are primarily undernourished children.
7/30/01	Freedom for MST Political Prisoners! -- After 30 days of arbitrary imprisonment for Maria dos Anjos and Jo\213o Batista and 20 days in jail for Eurival Martins (Tot\231), around noon today Appeals Court Judge Ot\207vio Maciel of the Par\207 Justice Tribunal announced his decision revoking the imprisonment of these three colleagues.
3/15/01	The Success and the Challenges of the Plebiscite on Debt -- The national plebiscite on debt was a great success. The results were fantastic considering that the campaign was waged with a minimum of resources and confronted massive opposition from the major media and the federal government.
12/20/00	MST polical prisoners will be released! -- We are very happy to inform you that the State Court of Sao Paulo has determined the immediate release of six MST political prisoners who have been in jail for 13 months. We are expecting their release between tonight and tomorrow. Thank you to all of you who have supported us! (From MST State Office, Sao Paulo)
12/17/00	Public attorney recognizes that MST's political prisoners are entitled to immediate release -- In confirmation of what the political prisoners, their lawyers, and the MST have been repeatedly stating, public attorney José Ricardo Peirão Rodrigues manifested publicly that the 6 political prisoners from Boituva (SP) have been illegally detained for the past six months. Please send messages to the authorities below demanding the consideration of the appeal and the immediate release of the imprisoned workers.
12/14/00	Human Rights in Brazil, 2000 -- A report from The Global Justice Center (Centro de Justiça Global, or JG) in Brazil. Be sure to read the chapter on Agrarian Reform and Rural Violence.
10/26/00	Why the World Social Forum? -- (by Noam Chomsky) The World Social Forum offers opportunities of unparalleled importance to bring together popular forces from many and varied constituencies from the richer and poor countries alike, to develop constructive alternatives that will defend the overwhelming majority of the world's population from the attack on fundamental human rights, and to move on to break down illegitimate power concentrations and extend the domains of justice and freedom.
10/26/00	The Economic Model -- Since its inauguration, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s government has adopted economic policies that attempt to subordinate the Brazilian economy to international financial capital. An integral part of this model has been the structural adjustment of agricultural production.
9/20/00	MST Activists Begin Hunger Strike -- MST activists in 14 states started a hunger strike yesterday to pressure the Brazilian government to fulfill its agreement with the Movement, which includes immediate settlement of over 100.000 families and subsidized credit for small farmers. Please send letters asking president Cardoso to fulfill his agreement with the MST.
9/14/00	Assassination of MST activists -- In the past week two MST militants from the state Mato Grosso do Sul were assasinated. They were Silvio Rodrigues de Souza, who was only 25 years old, and Romildo de Souza, who was 35. The crime is very emblematic of the characteristics of the struggle for agrarian reform in this state.
8/22/00	The MST's manifesto to the Brazilian people -- The Manifesto to the Brazilian People was elaborated during the MST's IV National Congress. It is a synthesis of the debates and represents a message to all organised sectors of Brazilian society.
8/22/00	KMP Salutes MST on its Glorious Fourth Congress -- The Peasant Movement of the Philippines (KMP) salutes all members and officers of MST for the successful launching of its fourth congress.
8/11/00	Deliberations of the "IV Congress of the MST" Commence -- The Fourth Congress is being carried out under the banner "Agrarian Reform: For a Brazil Without Latifundio". This slogan synthesises the three huge battlefields of contemporary Brazil. In such a way, this congress proposes to qualify the movement's struggle, clarifying to society the extent and the importance of agrarian reform.
7/31/00	Police and gunmen murder two landless workers -- On July 25, 2000, police and gunmen murdered two landless workers in separate incidents in the state of Ceará and in the northeastern city of Recife. This last incident follows just one day after a violent attack on landless workers in São José do Belmonte, Pernambuco state, in which hired gunmen shot and wounded seven workers.
7/19/00	Police Evictions of Landless Workers in Paraná -- On July 17, 2000, approximately one thousand police prepared a mega-operation to remove rural landless workers from at least two large rural estates in Paraná. Please send a letter to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, asking him to prevent violence against landless workers in Paraná.
6/14/00	Brazil's Rural Violence -- This month in the Brazilian state of Para, the wealthy and influential rancher Jeronimo Alves Amorim received a 19-year prison term for ordering the murder of a rural union leader, Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, nine years ago. More than 1,000 activists for the landless such as Mr. Ribeiro de Souza have been killed in Brazil in the last 10 years. Only a handful of the murderers have been tried, virtually all of them low-level hired triggermen.
6/8/00	Jerônimo Amorim Has Been Sentenced to Nineteen Years in Prison -- Jerônimo Alves Amorim, the rancher charged with ordering the assassination Expedito Ribeiro de Souza, president of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria, was convicted and sentenced to nineteen years and seven months of prison. This decision marks the first time in 30 years that a rancher has been tried and found guilty of crimes related to the land struggle in the state of Pará.
6/7/00	Letter to our friends and international cooperation organization -- Instead of debating the need to change the agricultural and economic models, the government decided to adopt two basic measures, including repressing social movements in the countryside and a unified campaign in the Brazilian press against the MST, trying to isolate it from the rest of society.
5/28/00	Notes about Procera Funds -- Notes about the accusation that the MST would be appropriating funds from the Procera (rural credit program) by means of workers' contributions.
5/22/00	Brazil Ranchers Call for More Destruction -- Email or fax a letter to prevent a huge increase in rainforest destruction.
5/15/00	Violence in Paraná -- An eviction this morning in the southwest region of the state of Paraná near the municipality of Quedas de Iguaçu has brought Paraná to a renewed state of tension. As many as three thousand Sem Terra farm laborers are on their way now to the area 180 km from Guarapuava.
5/9/00	One more victim of the Eldorado massacre dies -- 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.
5/8/00	The Gravity of the Agricultural Situation for Brazilian Society -- Since its first mandate, Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government has implemented an agricultural model that has marginalised national agriculture and violently impoverished rural workers. Two recent studies published by specialists representing the government itself, reveal the grave consequences of this model.
5/3/00	Landless worker dies in conflict with police in Paraná -- Landless worker Antônio Tavares Pereira, a 30-year old father of 5, died yesterday, May 2, 2000, in the Hospital do Trabalhador, in Curitiba. Antônio was part of a land occupation in the Candói municipality (central region of the state of Paraná). He was shot in the abdomen by the Paraná military police.
5/2/00	Slaughter of Landless Workers in Curitiba-Paraná -- About 500 landless agricultural workers met with violent repression this morning when trying to enter Curitiba for a daylong march and protest in front of the regional office of INCRA (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform).
5/2/00	Recent Struggles -- A summary of current MST activity across Brazil.
4/13/00	Repression Against The MST, Indigenous People, and Popular Movements in Bahia -- Please help us organize letter campaigns asking the Brazilian authorities to stop repressing popular movements in the region. Please write a letter.
4/6/00	Brazil Land Reformer Acquitted -- Activists applauded the acquittal of a prominent land reform leader at his retrial on murder charges, calling it a victory for the international human rights community.
4/4/00	Brazil Landless Leader Acquitted of Murder Charge -- A prominent leader of Brazil's landless peasants was acquitted of murder on Wednesday, reversing a 1997 conviction that sparked sharp criticism from human rights groups and governments worldwide.
4/4/00	Landless leader begins retrial for murder -- Testifying in the murder trial of the leader of millions of landless Brazilians, witnesses said Jose Rainha Jr. was far away at the time of the killings of two men.
4/4/00	Tension Rising Between Police, Landless Workers -- Neither side will back down despite the violence and chaos.
3/3/00	The World Bank and Land Reform in Brazil -- A damning indictment of the World Bank's supposedly "market-based" land reform pilot project by Stephan Schwartzman of DC-based Environmental Defense.
1/13/00	Letter from the MST -- A letter from João Pedro Stedile, National Board member of the Landless Workers' Movement congratulating US workers and society for our work in Seattle, and denouncing a World Bank project in Brazil.
1/12/00	Letter to World Bank regarding Second Request for Inspection -- The National Forum for Agrarian Reform and Justice in the Countryside appeals to this Board of Directors to undertake a rigorous examination of the "Report and Recommendation" of the World Bank Inspection Panel on the second request for investigation of the Brazil Poverty Alleviation and land Reform Pilot Project, "Cédula da Terra".
1/11/00	Meeting on agrarian reform with Phillipine Ambassador -- Report on the meeting of representatives of the Forum with the ambassador of the Philippines, Mr. Oscar Valenzuela, carried out on the 9th of December at the Philippine embassy in Brasilia.
1/5/00	Update on World Bank Inspection Panel request -- Report on the meeting of the National Forum for Agrarian Reform and Justice in the Countryside with repesentatives from the World Bank Inspection Panel carried out on the November 23, 1999.
12/28/99	Seminar Held on Land Bank Program -- From the 23rd to the 25th of November the National Forum for Agrarian Reform and Justice in the Countryside and the Brazilian Network of Multinational Financial Institutions held a seminar in Brasilia in order to discuss the Land Credit and Land Bank programs. The meeting involved members of the Forum and the Network, as well as professors and researchers from various Brazilian universities.
12/28/99	Washington Declaration of the South-South Exchange -- On September 23-24, 1999 representatives of various civil society organizations from Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, Haiti, USA, Cuba and Brazil met in Washington DC to reflect upon the impact of neoliberal policies on the rural sectors of our countries. Read the declaration signed by representatives of civil society from Brazil, Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico and Nicaragua.
12/21/99	Awards Received by the MST in 1999
12/16/99	Action Alert: Fear for safety / Arbitrary arrest -- Amnesty International is concerned for the safety of Gerson de Souza Melo, a leader of the Pataxó Hã Hã Hãi indigenous group, after he was arrested on 15 December 1999 in the state of Bahia.
12/8/99	Demand a fair trial for José Rainha! -- We ask all individuals and organizations concerned about human rights and social justice to write to the Brazilian authorities listed below, asking them to guarantee a fair trial for José Rainha Jr., a member of the MST.
11/22/99	Trial of José Rainha Confirmed: Action Request! -- The second trial of José Rainha Júnior is scheduled for December 13, in the city of Vitória, capital of Espírito Santo state. The first trial, by all accounts, was a farse. The MST is requesting international observers and human rights organizations to attend the second trial in Brazil.
11/5/99	Novo Mundo Mayor Assassinated -- Dorselina Folador, mayor of Novo Mundo, a small town in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, was killed with six shots last Saturday night in her home, in front of her eight year old daughter.
10/25/99	Land Ahoy! -- Originally published in BRAZZIL magazine, May 1998.
9/10/99	World Bank / Banco da Terra -- Several articles critical of the World Bank's market-based land reform project.
9/9/99	MST and Education -- Background information on the MST's educational programs.
8/26/99	Brazilian Police Verdict Exposes 'Open Wound' -- Brazil's justice system, long criticized as corrupt and inefficient, has again touched off national and international furor following a jury verdict last week that exonerated three police officials accused in connection with the slaying of 19 landless workers in 1996.
8/10/99	World Bank vs Land Reform -- This is Brazil, but it isn't Carnaval. There are no sequins or bright feathers here. Instead, a rag tag group of children huddle together around the fire, trying to stay warm, while their parents rush to pitch make-shift plastic tents and organize the scant food and medicines they brought to this empty farm land..