NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz).
Number 490, June 5, 2003

Dear News from Brazil readers,

Below you will find a case concerning land conflict and an urgent action
appeal concerning the case. We have also included a reflection on Workers'
Day. We realize that the date has long past, but we just received the
piece and thought it still to be timely.

Landless worker is murdered and others wounded in land conflict

On June 4, nearly 1,500 workers without land were planting a piece of land
they were occupying when suddenly they were attacked by a group of gunmen
headed by the owner of the land in question, Marcos Napoleao. One worker,
Antonio Alves da Silva, 43, was killed on 10 more were wounded. A woman, a
14 year-old girl and a man are in serious condition.

The ranch where the incident happened is located in the municipality of
Jacarau, 65 kilometers from the capital city Joao Pessoa, Paraiba. The
landless workers occupied the 400 hectares of land in August of 2001. The
families asked the government agency in charge of agrarian reform, INCRA,
to inspect the land, but were denied their request. Another agency,
INTERPA (Institute of Land of Paraiba) were to take the responsibility of
resolving the problem, but so far have done nothing. The families have
already been evicted, threatened, and have suffered assassination attempts.
Currently, the families are encamped near the ranch and continue to plant
and harvest to guarantee food supplies for themselves.

Marcos Napoleao, the ranch owner, is known in Paraiba to be a arms
trafficker. His house has already been inspected after he was accused of
forming private armies. Inspectors found arms and ammunition.

In September of last year, the same group of families were threatened by
Napoleao and his henchmen. After not heeding to the threats, the group was
attacked by the gunmen. In this incident, two workers were shot and
wounded, and all of the families' shacks were burned down. Some children
received burn wounds from the fires. A state representative, Frei
Anastacio, asked the state police to look into the incident. The police
investigated the site, made their report, and even succeeded in arresting
Napoleao and three of his gunmen. However, they were released the next day
after a judicial hearing. Part of the tragedy of this incident is that the
workers lost all of their personal legal documents in the fire. Therefore,
they have not been able to enroll their children in the schools because
they lack the proper documentation. They have been to the Secretary of
Justice of Paraiba, but still have not been able to resolve anything.

The incident which happened this past week in just one more of many that
have happened not only against this group of families but against many
others who are trying to earn their survival by working the land. The
incident highlights the incompetence of the public powers of the state to
hold accountable those who are perpetrating the violence against these
workers. There have already been demonstrations, public audiences, and
denouncements in the press concerning threats, aggressions, tortures and
murders by not only henchmen but the police of the state. But to this day,
these violent acts continue.

The large landowners of Paraiba and their comrades in government positions
are an embarrassment to our country. Numerous foreign delegations
representing prestigious international entities have witnessed and
documented the horror of violence and the disrespect of human rights
happening in the countryside. The most serious cases have already been
brought before the U.N.'s Commission on Human Rights, and the OAS's
Interamerican Commission on Human Rights.

The former federal and state public administration of INCRA and INTERPA,
the Secretary of Public Security of Paraiba and principal authorities
should be held responsible for the incompetence and delays in dealing with
the agrarian conflicts in our region, not giving due respect to the dignity
which each citizen deserves. Such disastrous performance only allows for
the tragedies noted above.

João Pessoa, June 4, 2003.

COMISSÃO PASTORAL DA TERRA NORDESTE (Alagoas, Pernambuco, Paraíba e Rio
Grande do Norte)

URGENT ACTION: The Land Commission is asking that emails be sent to Cassio
Cunha Lima asking him to take measures against those responsible for the
violence in the case above and others like it. His email is:
governador@pb.gov.br

Reflections on Workers´ Day

Worker´s Day began in 1886 when workers went to the streets in Chicago, in
the United States, demanding better working conditions. In the protests,
some were killed, and so we continue to honor this day for all workers
throughout the world.

For many workers, Worker´s Day is a day of commemorating. But we can ask
ourselves, commemorate what? The unemployment that reaches over 22% of our
active population and brings hunger, violence, and misery for our society?
The minimum salary of R$240 (US$80) per month that doesn´t provide for the
basic necessities of a family like food, water, energy, rent and clothes?
The impunity for those who kill landless workers struggling for their
rights which are written in the Constitution? The excluded youth who are
only wanting an opportunity to start their professional life? Or those
over 40 that want to continue working but are excluded because, according
to their employers, they lack energy and initiative? The women who still
suffer discrimination, receiving lower salaries than men, even in the same
functions and are fired when they become pregnant? Our unions that, on
Worker´s Day, offer us parties with food, drinks and door prizes? What
happened to the unions that organized workers on marches to factories
demanding change? Should we be commemorating the loss of our labor laws
for which many struggled and even died for? Or the coming of the Free
Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which only looks to further exploit
workers?

Worker´s Day should be a day of reflection where workers examine their
struggles, victories and failures. We should also remember workers who
have given their lives for our cause like Margarida Maria Alves who was
assassinated in front of her family because she organized workers to ask
their boss to register their work; João Pedro Teixeira killed for
struggling for better rural working conditions; Santo Dias da Silva
assassinated for organizing factory workers in strikes for better working
conditions; and many others who have left their example, experience and
passion to continue in our current struggles. We see that it is not time
to stop, because we still lack so much for a dignified life.

This year we should celebrate the rebirth of hope in the movements surging
forth in Brazil. Movements like the MST and CPT (landless), MTD
(unemployed workers), MTST (homeless), and others work today to inform
people about their rights as well as Brazilian history in order to learn
from the past.
Many sense a significant change with the election of Lula in 2002. Lula
was a great union leader in the 70´s and helped found the Workers´ Party in
the 80´s. With the new government we may be able to change our world of work.

Luciana de Freitas Andrade
Workers´ Pastoral
João Pessoa, Paraíba
May 1, 2003

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