Peasants of Barro Branco expel Military Police
Featured image: police officers retreat before a barricade erected by the peasants. Source: A Nova Democracia (AND).
A Nova Democracia reported yesterday on a new criminal action lead by latifundium against the peasants in Barro Branco, Pernambuco. On this occasion the military police attacked the Encampment Menino Jonatas. We already reported on another criminal action by latifundium, therefore this is the second attack by them in less than one week.
The recent attack occurred on the night of Sunday 17th of November when the Military Police (PM) arrived to the encampment and demanded that the peasants let them enter their lands. There this order was also rejected by a lawyer of the Brazilian Association of People’s Lawyers Gabriel Pimenta (ABRAPO).
The police officers insisted continued provoking but the residents themselves of the encampment rejected their presence and showed their despair. The peasants know very well the Military Police of the area and therefore they strongly reject them. AND explains the reason “The Military Police in Jaqueira, and more specifically the 10th Battalion of the Military Police, is denounced because it is used by the big landlord company Agropecuária Mata Sul S/A to gather information on the struggling peasants, by intimidating women and children in order to escalate the conflict in Barro Branco”.
While the lawyer was dealing with those police officers, the peasants prepared for the attack: they organize themselves quickly, used fireworks to rise awareness among all the peasants in the encampment, erected a barricade and a crowd of peasants arrived to the place. This crowd started to chant: “Police out of here!”. The Military Police retreat from the area.
