Several news about the mass movement in Brazil

During this week, several news of special interest have been published about the mass struggle in Brazil and the repression against them. We publish some fragments of them:

Peasants continue the struggle against Agropecuária Mata Sul S.A.

In Jaqueira, Pernambuco, peasants continue to denounce Agropecuária Mata Sul S.A. for actions that threaten their lives, from hiring goons to poisoning wells and destroying the natural environment. Although the company tries to defend itself from the accusations, some documents and dossiers consulted by A Nova Democracia demonstrate the company’s long history of crimes, denounced by the peasants.

The latifundium Agropecuária Mata Sul S.A. is among the top on the list of Armed Oligarchy published by the De Olho nos Ruralistas portal in 2022. 1,051 companies took advantage of a law approved during Boslonaro’s term to be able to hire and arm their own security guards, that is, the use of goons.

This is not the first time that these goons, together with the military police, have attacked peasants. A report by AND informed on exclusive statements of peasants from the city of Jaqueira.

While the latifundium company tries to publicly discredit the peasants, it accumulates a multitude of severe environmental infractions, such as the illegal dismantling of the Atlantic plant, soil contamination, etc. The League of the Poor Peasants and the Pastoral Land Commission investigated accusations of poisoning of wells by the latifundium.

Also in the Engenho de Barro Branco, Agropecuária Mata Sul S.A. is accused of destroying nearly 10,000 peasant banana trees, claiming the peasants’ land as its own, even though it had no documents.

Protests over the murder of the worker Vladimir Abreu

Vladimir Abreu was kidnapped, tortured and murdered by the Military Brigade. He was kidnapped at the door of his popular condominium where he lived. According to the press, he have been taken to the police station, where he have been tortured and murdered, and later his body have been thrown into a river.

On February 18, his family protested to demand justice and prison for those involved in the case. Two of the police officers were supposedly imprisoned, but three others remain free. The family affirms that they will struggle until the end for the conviction and imprisonment of all those involved.

Police oppress and extort the population through private militia

Eight military police were arrested on June 12 for forming a paramilitary group that operated in Abreu and Lima, Metropolitan Region of Recife. The leader was reserve PM and former councilor. The group collected debts from the local population through homicides and threats.

The group acted under the pretext of “social peace and security”, while the leader of the group was known for his various crimes, including extortion, injuries and murder. But this group did not act alone, since it had help from the police to get to know the people they had to extort; however, the police did not want to reveal the names of the police officers who participated in this criminal group.

Avá-Guarani indigenous people retake lands and resist the siege of latifundia

The Avá-Guarani peasants take back the lands invaded by the latifundia. All of these lands were delimited in 2018 as theirs but were stopped when they were claimed by the Temporary Framework, a law in application since December 2023 that takes away the right to the land from the peasants who live and work on it if they do not occupy it uninterruptedly since 1988. In the last occupation the goons surrounded the small area. In addition, the Military Police intervened to obtain information from the indigenous people in order to identify them.

For some months now, occupations have been taking place in the west of Paraná because there are peasant lands that they claim, in total about 530 hectares. For this reason, the violence of the goons is huge, not hesitating to use firearms.

Two days before the last occupation, on July 15, peasants carried out another occupation that resulted in the running over of four peasants and the health services were prevented from approaching the wounded by the goons.

This violence is not the first time to occur. In January 2024, attacks on peasants were reported. On that occasion, the goons from the latifundium shot four peasants with smoke bullets. Previously, in December, the peasants’ houses had been set on fire. The peasants organized demonstrations against the offensive of the latifundia, but days later the National Secretary of Public Security authorized the use of the National Force to mediate the conflict.

Even years before, indigenous peasants spoke of murders they experienced and the harassment their children experienced in schools, which led to several suicides.