ALBA Canada condemns the murder of campesino activists from the MST in Brazil

They proceeded to expel the families off the land and fired on thousands of families killing two MST campesino activists and wounding many more.

The MST reported the community had been receiving threats from security forces prior to the attack. Adding to that, on April 6th in Paraíba, Ivanildo Francisco da Silva, 46 year-old President of the Workers’ Party (PT) in the Mogeiro municipality was also murdered.

These are not isolated events; the police attack is the latest example of territorial conflicts in Brazil where landless rural workers have long been fighting for access to land and land reform.

The military police that undertook the violent repression at the Dom Tomas Balduino encampment is under Governor Carlos Alberto Richa, of the Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira (PSDB) party, one of the right-wing parties that is promoting a soft coup against President Dilma Rousseff.

We express our solidarity with Brazil’s MST and all land defenders who seek to claim and protect their land against corporate incursion.

We condemn this cowardly act and join our voices with the MST who are demanding immediate justice for the brutal massacre, land for the tillers and popular agrarian reform.

Signatures:

América Latina al Día
Circulo Bolivariano Louis Riel
Common Frontiers
DeColonize Now
Idle No More
Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network
Socialist Project
Students united in representation of Latin. America
The Dawn News – International Newsletter of Popular Struggles

To include your signature in the document, please e-mail Raul Burbano at ALBA Canada: burbano(at)rogers.com