27 December 2011 | News | Food Sovereignty
Outstanding
MST Brazil: 2011 was not a positive year in terms of the agrarian reform, and Dilma still owes the countryside
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As the year comes to a close, it’s the opportunity to take stock of the year and think about the future. In Brazil, the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) has published a report that summarized the most important struggles in 2011, and it also includes some of the main challenges for next year.
“This was not a positive year for agrarian reform and the MST movement. Agribusiness continued accumulating more lands and appropriating natural resources”, said Joao Pedro Stedile, leader of the Brazilian organization.
The lack of action and efficacy by the government, according to the MST, has lead Dilma Rosseuf’s administration to end up "owing" the people of the countryside. The government should present a plan including solutions for the over 160 thousand families still waiting a response, says the MST.
According to the report, agribusiness –defined as an alliance between capitalist landowners and transnational corporations- is currently controlling agriculture in Brazil and aims to “deepen their domination” through initiatives “on several sectors”.
One of them is the controversial weakening of the Forest Code that aims to eliminate sanctions over the producers responsible for deforestation, an initiative that met the resistance of the most representative organizations of the country.
Meanwhile, the MST also points out that the pollution caused by agrotoxics is one of the biggest problems in Brazil, a country that is first in the world in terms of the use of these products since 2008.
