BRAZIL: 5TH CONGRESS OF BRAZIL'S LANDLESS MOVEMENT: CREATING THE BASIS FOR A NEW WORLD:

There's an interesting recent article over at the Autonomy and Solidarity site about the 5th Congress of the Brazilian Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurals Sem Terra- the MST). Since 1979 the MST has engaged in land occupations of large estates. Today they have 5,000 settlements occupying 55 million acres and housing about 2 million people. There are also 150,000 landless workers camped on the side of highways still struggling to obtain land. This Congress was notable in that despite having called for support for President Lulu's Workers' Party(the PT) less than a year ago Lulu was pointedly not invited to this event, and there were far fewer representatives of the PT than at previous congresses. The actuality of social democracy in power has proven to be disappointing for the MST and many other social movements in Brazil. In relation to agriculture the MST is particularly disturbed by the acquiescence of the PT with neoliberalism's plans for genetically modified crops and ethanol production, all of which means support for agribusiness rather than small peasant farmers.

The article at Autonomy and Solidarity is by Raul Zibechi of Brecha, a weekly journal in Montevideo, Uruguay. Excerpts follow:

"The largest social movement on the continent, and one of the most important in the world, held its 5th Congress in mid-June 2007 in Brasilia. Despite successful mobilization of masses of people and significant media impact, under Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's government the movement faces strong challenges to activate its base against new enemies such as agribusiness....

"This was the central dilemma for the 5th MST Congress. To make agrarian reform viable, first the neoliberal model that is advancing in Brazil under the administration of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva must be rejected. The recent agreement between Lula and George W. Bush for the production of biofuels proved to the MST that it can no longer no longer count on Lula to support its goals. Stedile sees Lula's second term, which began in January 2007, as likely to be even more conservative than his first (2003-2006)....

"In contrast with previous congresses, this one had fewer representatives from Lula's Workers' Party (PT), and Lula was not invited. Although less than a year before, the MST had called to support Lula in the second round of the presidential election, relations have never been worse. The first leftist government in Brazil's history not only failed to accomplish the agrarian reform expected by the landless; it also supported agribusiness by approving transgenetically modified crops and promoting biofuels....

"Agrarian Reform for Social Justice and Popular Sovereignty was the theme of the 5th Congress. MST believes its main enemy now is agribusiness linked to multinationals, which wrests land and resources from the type of family agriculture that assures sufficient food for the national population. The organization proposes five steps:democratize ownership of the land; reorient agricultural production by turning towards the internal market and away from the external market preferred by multinationals; develop new agricultural techniques that do not harm the environment; spread education among farm workers; and develop small agroindustries to create employment....

"As a result of this, Stedile says in an article in Folha de Sao Paulo that the movement focus is on a democratic agricultural model that guarantees access to work, land, water and seeds for all. As an example of an undemocratic model he points to Lula's first four years in power, during which the State transferred US $300 billion to the financial sector because Brazil's interest rate is the highest in the world."

To read the entire article go to the Autonomy and Solidarity site HERE.