He said so recently in Brasilia, the country’s capital, during the launching of a seasonal family farming plan.

“I do not want to leave office without paying this historical debt the State owes to the comrades of MAB”, said the President, according to the official news agency Agencia Brasileña de Noticias (ABN)

He also said there are pending issues with other Brazilian social movements such as La Vía Campesina, the Federation of Family Agriculture Workers (Fetraf) and the National Confederation of Agriculture Workers (Contag).

Lula was confident that these organizations understand that it is not possible to “do everything in such a short time”, and claimed that his administration is building a “new paradigm” in the relation between the State and the society.

MAB received the message of the President and published figures on its website about the impacts caused by hydroelectric dams.

In Brazil, there are nearly a million people affected by dams, 70% of which have not been compensated as they should, they claim.

“The situation gets worse with the construction of new mega projects like Madeira, in Rondonia state”, says the MAB.

Despite the acknowledgement, the struggle of the people affected is still complicated.

Last week a MAB rural workers of Paraiba state, in the north east of the country, was murdered in an ambush.

Joãzinho was the brother of one of the leaders of the movement against the construction of Acauã dam, the news site of the Rural Landless Peasant Movement (MST) reported.

The news reports the MAB activists expose the growing tension in the region and the death threats received by activists in the recent weeks.

Since May, 120 families that were displaced by Acauã have occupied fiscal lands demanding solutions to the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA).

Since the implementation of the hydroelectric complex six years ago, the people affected have demanded compensation and land delivery policies, but have not got any answer so far.