Brazil: peasant leader murdered in Vitória do Xingu, Pará

We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by A Nova Democracia.

The peasant Ednaldo Palheta da Cunha was shot dead on January 11 by gunmen in the municipality of Vitória do Xingu, in Pará. He was leader of a small peasants camp. He was approached by two men on a motorcycle on the Ramal Água Boa road and was executed in front of his 11years old son, Naldo. This information comes from the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB).

Ednaldo was 45 years old and was president of the Association of Small Peasants of Km 40, an entity formed by 228 peasant families that occupy an area of interest of big landlords in Vitória do Xingu. The region is disputed despite the fact that the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) has already classified the area as public and pending definitive entitlement. It is the responsibility of the Brazilian State that the process gets protracted and cases of violence against peasants, such as Ednaldo’s, are facilitated.

Pará is one of the states with the most conflicts on land in Brazil. In Vitória do Xingu, the tense scenario has worsened since the construction of the Belo Monte hydroelectric power plant. The city, which is the headquarters of the plant, receives the largest share of the Financial Compensation for the Use of Water Resources (CFUHR) and has an economy dependent on extensive cattle raising; in other words, there are great interests of the local oligarchies involved in the city.

The families of Km 40 already produce rice, beans, gherkin, okra, yams and seriguela [Translator’s note: a flowering plant which gives a fruit, also known as “jocote” in other parts of Latinamerica] on the land, according to MAB. “We don’t want to plant grass, we don’t want to raise cattle, we just want this little piece of land that has no documents”, a peasant told to the movement’s communications team.