Brazil: People’s Assembly Led by the LCP in the Zé Ricardo Revolutionary Area

Featured image: Peasants participating in the People’s Assembly. Source: A Nova Democracia (AND).

Peasants from the Ze Ricardo Revolutionary Area, led by the League of the Poor Peasants (LCP) in Pernambuco, held a People’s Assembly on the afternoon of April 26, according to A Nova Democracia (AND). The José Ricardo Area is one of the oldest LCP areas in the Northeast, originating from an occupation of the latifundium headquarters under the banner of the MST. After several struggles, its leader, Ze Ricardo, was imprisoned, and the LCP launched a major campaign on his behalf. José Ricardo joined the LCP. This leader died in 2008 in a motorcycle accident.

Eighty peasants attended the event, which was also attended by representatives of the International Anti-Imperialist League (AIL), the Brazilian Association of People’s Lawyers (Abrapo), the Committee of Solidarity with the Struggle for Land (Comsolute), the Support Committee for AND in the Pernambuco countryside, and historic leaders of peasant movements in the region.

The peasants kicked off the event by singing the anthem of the Agrarian Revolution, “Conquistar a Terra.” The struggle of the peasantry in the region was remembered, including that of comrade José Ricardo, a leader who passed away in 2008. A representative of the AIL emphasized that “the world is living in a new era of revolutions” and conveyed greetings from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Collectives of Venezuela to the AIL Founding Congress. Various fronts were highlighted as part of the same struggle against imperialism, such as the peasant struggles in Ecuador and Paraguay, the Iranian National Resistance, and the Palestinian National Resistance. A peasant noted that the big landlords are trying to expel them from their lands but will fail because “the people are united.”

The peasants built a new headquarters as part of the preparations for the assembly, and as a future headquarters for the association of local residents. Additionally, it will also serve as the Elizabeth Teixeira People’s School. This new headquarters is being built on the site of a former home belonging to the local big landlord, “Colonel Cordeirinho.”