Successful peasant-student plenary in support of the struggle of the occupiers of Messias
On December 10, a successful assembly was held at the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Federal University of Alagoas in support of the occupiers of Messias, as reported by A Nova Democracia. The Support Committee for the Struggle of the Squatters of Messias had called for the event and mobilized dozens of peasants from the area of Lajeiro and Esperanza, as well as organized and independent students.
The event began by singing the peasant anthem, Conquistar a Terra, and paid tribute to the resistance of the Zumbi dos Palmares camp and the combative attitude of the detained peasants. Subsequently, the detained peasants had been released by the people’s struggle, as we reported:
A peasant then spoke about the great repression suffered in Messias: they suffered four police raids, the last one being a war operation, which, as a representative of the League of Poor Peasants (LCP) commented, showed “the desperation of the big landlords in the face of the bravery and courage of the peasants”. One of the peasant women arrested during the operation was also able to speak, stating, “They say that we were committing a crime by resisting, but I replied ‘destroying our houses is a crime, struggling is not a crime!’” Other peasants who were present spoke of similar experiences, and how they did not hesitate to stand firm.
A representative of the LCP concluded the balance by saying: “The Zumbi dos Palmares camp barely experienced a test, resisting for 48 hours against all odds. The Camp showed that it is possible to resist the enemy, encouraged the people to fight and pointed the way to the Agrarian Revolution. The promise of our movement is to reconquer the land stronger and more prepared. As the peasantry of Messias/Alagoas, together with the support of students and workers of the city, we reaffirm our decision to continue the path of struggle for the Agrarian Revolution with the approval of a militant plan of struggle for the reorganization of the families and the reconstruction of the Zumbi dos Palmares Camp.”
