The Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST, in Portuguese) held its traditional Meeting of Friends of the MST on Saturday (7). This end-of-year activity brings together ers and takes stock of the political struggle over the past year. The event took place at Espaço Cultural Elza Soares, in São Paulo.
"Over the years, the MST has been careful to carry out end-of-year activities of fraternization, combined with political debate. First, we want to thank our allies for the solidarity they have shown our organization over the last few years. Secondly, it's time for us to give an of what we've achieved and failed to achieve. And finally, to plan what we want to do in the next period," said João Paulo Rodrigues, from the movement's national leadership, who also announced that the National Agrarian Reform Fair will be held in São Paulo in May 2025.
Federal government ministers were present. The head of the General Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic, Márcio Macedo, highlighted the role of the popular movement in pressuring state managers to make decisions in line with the interests of workers. "I would like to congratulate the MST for the fight it has been waging all year for agrarian reform and healthy food production. And to say how important this movement is for Brazilian democracy," he said.
"Sometimes I wonder what would become of Brazil if there wasn't a social movement like the MST," he continued. "We don't want the government to be in charge of the movements, nor do we want the movements to be in charge of the government. Each in their trench. The government is in the trench of delivering, and the movement is demanding and putting forward its agenda. And both in defense of democracy, but always on the right side of history."
The Minister for Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Paulo Teixeira, spoke of the importance of the MST for democracy, Brazil, and agrarian reform. "And the balance is the resumption, in full force, of agrarian reform. This is already happening," he told Brasil de Fato. "They [the previous government] had built a wall to prevent agrarian reform. That wall was torn down, and now we're back with an agrarian reform project," concluded Teixeira, who took advantage of the event to announce the takeover of five areas where MST camps are located, including Quilombo Campo do Meio, in the south of Minas Gerais, where families have been waiting for a definitive settlement for over 20 years.
João Paulo Rodrigues celebrated Teixeira's announcement with caution. "Any measure is necessary. The MST hasn't made any economic gains this year. We are waiting for a meeting with President Lula and for the measures announced by Minister Paulo Teixeira to become a reality. But this agenda has not been implemented for three months," he said.
"The MST's demand is the settlement of the encamped families, of which there are more than 60,000, resources for the purchase of agricultural reform products through the PAA – Food Acquisition Program – and a development package, which includes credit, debt renegotiation, housing, education in the countryside, and of course, improving the living conditions of the settlers. The MST is convinced that the Lula government can solve these problems this year," he concluded.
Ministers Paulo Teixeira (left), Márcio Macedo (center) and Jorge Messias (right) attended the Meeting of Friends of the MST / Priscila Ramos/MST
After the government representatives spoke, João Pedro Stedile, a member of the movement's national leadership, took stock of the actions and achievements of the last two years of regaining democracy. In the presence of the ministers, the leader strongly criticized the Lula 3 istration and said that the balance "is negative" from the perspective of agrarian reform and real achievements for the Brazilian people.
"The Lula government is in a bind. In other words, even if it has the political will to help the poor, it can't," said Stedile. "I'm not going to dispute Paulinho's [minister Paulo Teixeira] data because that's not the point. But land reform is at a standstill; there hasn't been a single takeover in two years. There's goodwill to solve it next year, fine, there's goodwill. But the balance is negative," said the leader, who mentioned a new survey by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) showing 101,000 landless families across the country.
"We need the government to tackle structural issues because propaganda alone doesn't work," he criticized. "We have to fix many things in the Lula government because otherwise, we're going to reap much bitter fruit," Stedile warned.
