Movement of the without-ground

History

Agriculture in Brazil

When the Portuguese crown invades the Brésil, it divided the ground into great properties, called the hereditary harbor offices, that it offered to Portuguese aristocrats, becoming lords or capitans then. The role of these immense properties was the agricultural production, the extraction of gold and, surtoation of the draft of the slaves (African and indigenous) with an aim of forwarding all the richnesses produced until the Portugal.

Agriculture was thus structured around field crops of revenues and export. This situation does not have war develop and, still today, 1% of the landowners have 54% of the cultivable grounds. Approximately 12 sharecropper or farm laborer million, farm, undergoing deplorable work conditions and not holding aucunes or few cultivable grounds, tries to remain.

According to the organization, the Brésil is the third exporter of natural resources in the world. As regards hydraulic resources, the country has largest Biodiversité in the world and greatest soft water reserve, with the delta of the the Amazon. According to the MST, the Climat Brésil IEN is favourable with agriculture. However, more than 40 of the 170 million inhabitants suffer there from the hunger.

Birth of the MST

At the 19th century, the escape of the slaves and the creation of the quilombos , zone of installation for the slaves in escape, with a return to family agriculture, the interdependent co-operation. The historical leader was Zumbi back Palmares.

the Revolt of the canudos carried out by Antonio Conselheiro which installed 25.000 people on a ground conquered to build a theocratic parallel company, it was repressed by a massacre in October 1897.
the country leagues organized ground occupations in the Brazilian nordeste before the dictatorship (1961-1964).

During the military dictatorship of 1964 to 1984, the country lived the “Brazilian miracle” which involved the mechanization of agriculture: the Green revolution. This reorganization involved the eviction of small holders, the agricultural employees of the latifundios which became without ground. A great number migrated towards the cities, whereas those was already confronted with a wave of unemployment.

The September 7th 1979, in the Rio Grande C Sul, of the peasants without ground (majority expelled by the construction of stopping) made the first massive occupation, in the fazenda Macali. They were strongly supported by the Pastoral Commission of the Earth (CPT), a popular organization of monk of the Théologie of the release. Quickly, of many occupations of latifundio organized themselves côtoyant the popular mobilizations for the return to the democracy.

In 1984, the first meeting of the rural workers without ground officialized the birth of the Movement of the rural workers Without-Ground (MST) whose role is the organization, the education (elimination of illiteracy, political training and militant of the young people and adults) of the without-ground moving in the various political actions (campings, occupations of latifundio, public agencies, of multinationals, mowing of fields of GMO, steps…).

Principles founders

Several principles founders of the MST were adopted at the time of the first congress:

the MST is independent of any political party, the Brazilian State and the Catholic church.
All managements of the MST must include/understand 50% men and 50% women.
the MST does not fight only for the ground but for the just and noncommercial Land reform (for the expropriation and the attribution of the grounds to the people which works it and not the sale of the grounds and the debt of the peasants as the government and the World Bank propose it (Bank value da will terra, novo mundo rural).)
the MST is not a movement isolated from fight for the ground but is organized at the national level (23 States) and international: Confederação Latina das Organisações Camponeses (CLOC), Via Campesina.
the MST acts in a historical continuity of the movements of fights against oppression and for the ground in Brazil and in the world.
the MST is anything else only the without-ground moving and practical the democratic centralism and the participative democracy.
the production of the MST is an ecological production, without pesticide, artificial fertilizer and GMO, supporting a diversification of the cultures, reafforestation, the culture of medicinal plants, food for the families of the MST and the marketing of the surplus at the most stripped prices accessible to. The reports/ratios of production are co-operative and interdependent.

Actions

Today the MST gathers 1,5 million people (300 000 families in the assentamentos (conquered grounds), 150 thousand still in acampamentos (occupations).

Occupations

The MST organizes massive ground occupations of latifundio (with between 30 and 1000 families) assembles a acampamento, from there begins a concrete battle, more or less late repression by the police force or the mercenaries armed with the great landowners; and a legal battle, the MST being based on article 184 of the constitution of 1988 which stipulates that “It falls on the Union to be adapted, by social interest, for purposes of the land reform, the rural good which does not achieve its social function”, the legal debate is done on the definition of the social function of the ground, discusses sensitive to the power struggle between the mobilizations of the without-ground and the corrupting capacity of the great landowner.

The legal battle can be concluded by expropriation from surface from occupied ground and the transformation into assentamento, the releasing of agricultural grants, public means for the wages of the teachers of the schools of the assentamento and for the station of health.

Each family conquers the equivalent from 10 to 20 hectares (according to the areas and the type of ground), which it can exploit in an individual way, or collective. Many families are organized in co-operatives of production and transformation (bakery, various productions).

The surface conquered by these fights is equivalent to 7 million hectares, which represents 2 times the surface of Denmark.

Demonstrations

The MST organized of the 1 with the the May 17th 2005, largest popular market of the Brazilian history, with more 12 000 people going of goiania in Brasilia i.e. 300 kilometers. The goal of walk was to make pressure on the Lula Government so that it holds its electoral promises with regard to the land reform (installation of 400 000 families before the end of her mandate in 2006).

Educational actions

The without-ground built 1800 schools and obtained public finances for their operation, 160 000 children are provided education for, 3900 teachers were trained by the movement in relation to 7 public universities, it exists a program of elimination of illiteracy which touched more 30 000 young people and adults.

Estimating that traditional education forms with the competition, the MST tries with its schools to develop new values of solidarity to train social actors, true citizens, so that them without ground installed on the legalized grounds remain without-ground, militants of the fight for the land reform in all Brazil and for all the Brazilian ones. The educational dimension of the MST is thus very important, and it trains teachers for the schools of the assentamentos and acampamentos to a particular pedagogy: pedagogy liberator of Paulo Freire, a Brazilian teacher, priest of the theology of the release, author of the pedagogy of oppressed.

Oppositions

If, thanks to its organization and with its educational dimension, the MST became the movement of mass of fight for the ground which lasted the most time in the history of Brazil, he is not criticized less by it. The Brazilian press does not hesitate to qualify the without-ground of " terroristes" , or more recently of " talibans of Brésil" (Jornal C Brasil, April 4th, 2002). Cedependent, has much the official support of the government.

The April 17th 1996, the repression of a manifestation of the MST in the state of the Pará (northern of Brazil) by the military police force resulted in the death of 19 demonstrators. The international rural organizations issued this date, day international of the country fights. Today the MST is one of the resistance movements to the liberalism of most organized world.

opposition to OMC

The MST fits in the mobility altermondialist while being opposed to the institutions like OMC or the the IMF. It estimates indeed that the policy of OMC has a direct influence on the plundering of the agricultural richnesses of the country. He also shows the IMF to have supported the dictatorship then to have imposed on the country an economic program which is the person in charge of the social crisis which touches the country.

Recognitions

The movement received the Right Livelihood Award , (sometimes called alternate Nobel Prize) in 1991 and the International prize King Baudouin for the Development in 1997.

See too

External bond

Official site: http://www.mst.org.br/
Site in French: http://amisdessansterre.blogspot.com/
ONG supporting the MST: http://www.france-fdh.org/terra/agir/agirinfoterra.htm http://solidaritebresil.free.fr/mst.htm
radio programs " over there if I there suis" on the MST: http://w3.la-bas.org/ogg/050222.ogg
(Fr) radio programs " the zinc" on the MST
(Fr) Film " descubrimos ace raizes" on the MST

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