Land invasions signal end of truce with Brazil's leader

www.sfgate.com STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press Writer Thursday, March 6, 2003
(03-06) 19:26 PST SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) --

A wave of invasions of farms and government offices in recent days has abruptly ended a truce between landless farmworkers and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, their longtime defender.

Since Saturday, farmworkers have occupied public and private property in five Brazilian states, loudly resuming their favored tactic to pressure the government to speed up agrarian reform.

"We have waited long enough for the new government to take concrete action in favor of agrarian reform," Joao Paulo Rodrigues, a leader of the of the Landless Rural Workers Movement, or MST, said by phone Thursday. "The wait-and-see period is coming to an end."

The latest invasions are simply a dress rehearsal for a series of nationwide of protests in April, Rodrigues said.

It's an ironic twist for Silva, a former union boss who took office Jan. 1 as Brazil's first left-wing president in 40 years. His Workers Party has long championed land reform and the farmworkers' movement.

Land distribution in Brazil is among the most uneven in the world. Some 90 percent of the land is owned by just 20 percent of the people, while the poorest 40 percent of the population holds just 1 percent.

During his campaign, Silva, better known as Lula, wooed conservative ranchers and landowners by claiming that only he could control the MST. For months, the movement refrained from occupying land.

The peace ended Saturday, when some 1,000 landless farmers occupied a ranch 80 miles west of Sao Paulo.

The invasion was intended "to show Lula there's an unresolved issue he must deal with," said Maria Rodrigues, who coordinated the occupation.

The invasion was peaceful, but ranch owners quickly obtained an eviction order. MST leaders said they would leave the ranch only if the government finds another area to settle the squatters.

On Tuesday, two other properties were occupied in two southern states. On Wednesday, farmworkers took over the offices of the government's Agrarian Reform Institute in two midwestern cities.

Presidential Chief of Staff Jose Dirceu, a former radical who was jailed and exiled by a previous military regime, urged protesters to "respect the limits of democracy."

Silva has not forgotten land reform, the Agrarian Development Ministry said. In January, the government expropriated 500,000 acres of unproductive land for redistribution to landless farmers, the ministry said.