[02/02/06] News of the MST: In Rio Grande do Sul, pesticides and shooting at Landless families

People in MST encampments in the municipality of Nonoai (RS) marched yesterday to the public prosecutor’s office with accusations of violence that had been carried out by gunmen of a ranch in front of the encampment. An agricultural plane belonging to the rancher Alberto Ângelo Tagliari, owner of the Real Ranch, was used to spray pesticide over the families while gunmen fired on their shacks. The MST handed over photos and bullets, proving the accusation.

The roughly 500 families who are camping alongside the highway (RS-040) for three months are asking the court to provide security. Marcelo José da Costa Petry, the prosecutor in the municipality, said that he was going to investigate the case and that there may be apprehension of the weapons and jail for those accused. The Military Police also advised that it would send a biochemist to the camp to investigate if there were traces of chemicals on the shacks. The ranch area has around 2800 thousand hectares and Tagliari has another 52 thousand hectares of land in the country.

Ivanir Loureiro of the MST encampment coordinating body says that the presence of the attempt against the encampment is a common fact in that region. “Here, in truth, this has been going on for a while. Gunmen terrorize families and children. Around 8:00 a.m., a plane began to spray poison on top of the shacks, with gunmen shooting at people from the top of a truck, he said yesterday. According to reports from another person in the encampment, Givanildo Poncio, around 15 gunmen, divided into two trucks, shot more than 100 times against the encampment.

However, according to the rancher’s lawyer, Mauro Machado, the plane was contracted to put “recommended non-poisonous defensive