News on several struggles in Brazil

Feature image: Protests in Valeria, Salvador, Bahia. Source: AND

During the past weeks there have been news about different struggles in Brazil. We bring a compilation with some of them:

Protests in Bahia against police violence

In the neighborhood of Valeria, in Salvador, state of Bahia, residents have risen up in a combative protest after the murder of two young people aged 21 and 18, as A Nova Democracia reported. The families denounce that they were executed in cold blood by the Military Police (MP). The older one was shot and received no assistance from the MP.

The protests began on September 16, when tires were set on fire and posters were put up in protest. On September 17, school and public transport were canceled due to the climate of war in the region. The MP brutally repressed the demonstration, but still the residents reacted by throwing stones and bottles in direction of the rubber bullets and tear gas bombs. A resident who tried to speak to the police was kicked in the face.

During the demonstration, the statements of the police about one of the boys were denounced: they denounced that it is said that he was a criminal and an outcast, while the number of people who protested after his unjust and perverse death proves the opposite. After the demonstration, police raids were carried out, but no arrests were made.

On the other hand, the 18-year-old was shot in the stomach while riding a motorcycle with his friend. According to the police, the reason was that they “ran” and therefore, they would be armed and related to drugs. The residents of the place have made an official note: “That means that because the boys run they have to lose their lives? We want them to present the weapon and the drugs. Cowards, they shot the boys in the back!”

The Bahia Military Police is the most violent one in Brazil. Between January 2023 and April 2024, 2,300 people died in the state due to police violence. The focus is always on Black and Brown people, who are 98% of police murder victims in the state and 100% in the city.

Private security murders resident of occupied community

On September 10, private security invaded an abandoned textile factory, belonging to the Fiotex Industria S/A business group, where now more than 500 families house in vulnerable situations. These private security men said they were the police, they were armed and, together with tractors, they began to demolish the houses that had been erected.

After the resistance of the people, the securities began shooting, murdering a woman, Ana Mayane, who was sleeping with her young daughter. The police did not interfere the illegal eviction, just until the people took their protest organized to the street. It was reported that two busses were burned, barricades were also made with burning tires. On September 13, the families returned to the factory to rebuild their houses.

The company that owns the land made a statement saying that the eviction was done in a “legal” way, contrary to the information published by the Court of Justice of Caerá, which states that they have no such case registered. Five henchmen of the company Fiotex Industria S/A were arrested, but no owner of the company.

Peasants denounce illegal eviction attempts in Distrito Federal

Peasants from the Promised Land Camp have been suffering illegal evictions by the government of the Federal District for two years. Organized by the People’s Resistance (MRP), the peasants located in Brazlândia denounce the countless eviction attempts.

In an operation by the Military Police of the Federal District together with the Secretary of State for the Protection of the Urban Order of the Federal District, they evicted several families by destroying their houses with tractors. A representative of the peasants reported in an interview with a local correspondent of AND that the families were up to 60 days suffering of daily destruction of their houses, without notification or accompaniment of anyone to the families. The evictions began with the excuse that the land was for an Environmental Preservation Area, but now it turned out that the land belongs to the Brasília Real Estate Company – Terracap or the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. All this, without evidence.

Peasants are still struggling for the access to water and energy after two years of resistance. They also denounced that they use tractors to destroy their crops.