Brazilian Peasants Movement Arms Itself -- Resumes Land Seizures
Over the weekend, the Brazilian Landless Rural Workers Movement, or MST
(Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) ended its three month self-
declared truce with the government and resumed invading and settling on
private farms. Although the MST has been in existence since the mid-1980s,
it has remained a rural movement with little impact on national or
international security. However, at least one heavily armed cell within
the MST has recently been formed, and the movement is spreading to urban
areas in Brazil and across the border to Argentina. On Sunday, September
13, a bomb destroyed one electric power transmission tower and a second
bomb was found on another tower. Both of these were in Parana State, a
major MST stronghold. Although there are no official reports of suspects
for the bombings, it is likely that those involved have connections to the
MST. The growth of the MST over the past year and a half now poses a
threat to internal Brazilian politics and stability, as well as to
Brazilian and Argentine relations. It may be only a matter of time before
the MST transforms from a social movement to a guerilla organization.
The MST was founded in Brazil in the mid 1980s, with the merging of several
groups of farmers and indigenous who had been displaced from their lands.
Referring to the Brazilian constitution, which calls it a job of the
government to "expropriate, on social grounds, for the purposes of agrarian
reform, rural property which is not fulfilling its social function," and
the idea that the government only represents the elite minority, the MST
decided to expedite the process of transferring land to landless farmers.
The first large-scale land invasion by the MST occurred in 1985, with over
2,000 families joining to occupy a farm in the southern state of Rio Grande
do Sul. From 1985 until early 1997, the MST organized several smaller-
scale land occupations. In 1997, following several occupations that
resulted in violent clashes with landowners and police, the MST returned to
large-scale operations in order to maximize the safety of the participating
peasants.
The MST has been primarily active in the southern Brazilian states of Rio
Grande do Sul, Mato Grosso do Sul and, more recently, Parana and Sao Paulo.
During the drought this spring, and in the aftermath of the fires in
Brazil, the MST began looting government food storehouses, claiming the
government was not fulfilling its duty to distribute the food aid
efficiently or quickly enough.
It was not until last week, however, that reports of heavily armed MST
members surfaced. Just before the MST broke its three month truce with the
government, General Alberto Cardoso, chief of the Military Household of the
Presidency, announced that military intelligence had discovered a group of
about fifteen "weapons experts" in the MST that were planning to lead an
MST invasion of a well-protected farm, in order to facilitate the creation
of martyrs for the MST. In his announcement, Cardoso pleaded with the MST
not to pursue this new, more militant path, as it was a threat to the
stability of Brazil's public order and to national security. Although the
MST did not use this armed band in its latest land occupations, Sunday's
bombing of a major power transmission line in Parana State raises the
question of MST involvement. If the MST is arming itself, it could lead to
instability in Brazil's southern region, with the potential for an MST
transition from a social movement into a guerilla movement.
MST activities are spreading, both within Brazil and into Argentina. In
Brazil, a new organization has sprung up, the Union of Pro Housing
Movements. This group, which models itself after the MST, is the urban
counterpart to the MST. Although there are not yet any direct ties between
the MST and the Union of Pro Housing Movements, MST leaders say the
organizations could become part of a larger movement. This larger movement
may not be confined to Brazil, as hundreds of MST farmers have settled in
the Misiones Province of Argentina, between Brazil and Paraguay. As well,
within Argentina there is a growing network of squatter organizations
forming. On September 8, these groups joined in 20 separate demonstrations
around Argentina calling for land reform. At the same time in Brazil,
similar demonstrations were being held. In Misiones State, 8,500 families
are planning to settle a tract of land formerly occupied by a logging
company, but which is now abandoned.
With the resurgence of MST activity, increasing financial support for the
group, the arming of radical bands within the MST, and the cross border
spread of its activities, the MST's threat to Brazilian stability is
increasing dramatically. These factors, combined with the current economic
stresses on Brazil and the upcoming elections in October, are bringing the
situation to a critical point. Although having no official political
party, the MST has traditionally been more closely associated with the
party of opposition candidate Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, the Partido dos
Trabalhista (PT), than the ruling party of President Fernando Henrique
Cardoso. The MST, combined with the Union of Pro Housing Movements, could
have a major effect on the elections. However, despite their potential
support for PT, Cardoso is still likely to win the elections.
With the world financial crisis now impacting Brazil, Brazil's military has
had to cut back on border defenses, built up recently to counteract
incursions in the northwest by FARC rebels from Colombia. With the MST
crossing into Argentina, the military must decide which area of the border
to give its greatest attention to. As the landless movements in Argentina
grow and begin to interfere with the running of the country, Argentina will
become more insistent that Brazil keep the MST within its own borders if it
is to avoid a weakening of relations between the two countries.
The southern cone of South America has largely avoided the guerrilla
problem that has brutalized countries like Colombia and Peru. The growing
power and scope of the MST in the last year and a half, combined with the
arming of radical factions within the organization and its cross border
activities may bring an end to this quiet time. The MST has said it is
willing to defend itself against forceful evictions, and the bombings of
electric transmission towers over the weekend occurred in the middle of MST
territory and remain unattributed. President Cardoso is torn between
suppressing the MST and trying to gain its support for next month's
elections. If they are not dealt with, however, the MST and other landless
movements in Brazil and Argentina may combine to form a regional
organization that would threaten far more than the seizure of ranches.
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