“If she has the political will to solve social problems, the Agrarian Reform should be one of her policies, directly or indirectly, supporting families and developing the agroindustry, with technical assistance and loans for the families that want to work the land”, said Jose Batista de Oliveira, from the MST national coordination, in an interview published at MST’s website.

Official figures agree with the landless workers. The latest poll shows that food problems are significantly higher in rural areas.

President Rousseff said that the main goal of her administration will be the eradication of poverty, and the MST proposes the best way to do so: a massive agrarian reform in the entire Brazilian territory.

Among other things, the MST supports the strengthening of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform as a tool to speed up the granting of lands. In March, Agronomist Carlos Lacerda was appointed by Rousseff as the new head of INCRA. He advised social movements as the MST for years.

The landless workers of Brazil consider that this month will be extremely important in terms of mobilizations. April 17th will be the 15th anniversary of the massacre in El Dorado dos Carajas, a tragic event that resulted in the death of 19 rural workers in Para State.

Ulisses Monaças, from the national coordination of the MST in Para, said that the idea is to remember this date and put the agrarian reform on the agenda of the government. According to Agencia Brasil, the leader said that the movement will campaign against the massive use of agrotoxics. “Brazil is the world’s largest consumer of poison”, is their slogan.

Photo: www.mst.org.br