[NYTr] Brazil's Landless Movement: Entirely New Model of Agrarian Reform Now Needed

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Center for International Policy Americas Program - Aug 23, 2007
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4494

5th Congress of Brazil's Landless Movement

Creating the Bases for a New World

by Raúl Zibechi
English Translation by Maria Roof

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 Inácio Lula da
Silva's government the movement faces strong challenges to activate its
base against new enemies, such as agribusiness.

Agrarian reform will no longer be the principal demand from the
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), Brazil's Landless
Rural Workers Movement . "The agrarian reform proposal that drove MST's
struggle for 20 years has run its course. We need a new model of
agrarian reform," according to João Pedro Stédile, an MST leader.1 He
explains: "Classical agrarian reform was developed in European
countries, the United States, and Japan after World War II. It involved
combining agrarian reform with the development of national industry to
create an internal market. Brazil missed four historical opportunities
to establish this sort of agrarian reform."

The MST believes that agrarian land redistribution could have occurred:
at the end of the 19th century with the abolition of slavery; or during
the "Revolution of 1930," which led to industrialization; in 1964, with
the rise in social struggles that were interrupted by the military
coup; or at the demise of the military regime in the mid-1980s. The
problem, Stédile adds, is that during the 1990s, "Brazilian elites
abandoned the national development project" and accepted the neoliberal
model that subordinates the country to finance capital."2 Economic
elites ignored national industrialization and embraced the external
market, and agrarian reform is no longer functional in the economic
system.

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 Inácio 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 count on Lula to
support its goals. Stédile sees Lula's second term, which began in
January 2007, as likely to be even more conservative than his first
(2003-2006).

Turn Toward the Environment

In contrast to 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 toward 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.

The resolution approved by the 5th Congress synthesizes the old and new
objectives defined by the movement. Among the new directions is the
struggle against agribusiness and the multinational corporations that
control "the seeds, production, and agricultural commerce," such as
Monsanto, Syngenta, Cargill, Bunge, Nestlé, BASF, Bayer, Aracruz, and
Stora Enso. This list reveals the names of the new enemies of rural
farmers: enterprises that force farmers off their land by planting
large tracts of transgenic soy beans or trees. The document reflects a
shift in the movement this year, which began to strongly criticize "
agrofuels" after Bush's visit with Lula. The MST Congress demands that
this production "come under the control of farmers and rural workers,"
in order to preserve the environment and establish "the energy
sovereignty of each region."3

Criticism of agribusiness multinationals implies a shift toward
environmental defense that places the MST in a different position than
before. Its decision in favor of ecology represents a deepening of its
criticism of the agrarian model and the type of society prevailing in
Brazil and throughout the world—so-called neoliberalism. It also allows
the MST to strengthen ties with urban movements. Without a new
agro-ecology model, Stédile points out, the only future options for
farmers are "favela slums, Family Welfare Social Support, or working
for foreign companies in agribusiness."

Ethanol in Brazil

Over the past years landless farm workers have observed, and suffered,
important changes in agriculture and in rural areas. There was the
extensive expansion of monoculture, first with transgenic soy beans and
then with sugarcane. The best lands are dedicated to these crops, which
prevents the development of family agriculture. But these same crops
are destroying entire areas of the country. It is estimated that in a
few years "Los Cerrados," a high plain ecosystem between Brazil's
Atlantic coast and the Amazon jungle, will be completely overtaken by
monoculture, and its biodiversity destroyed. The next step is the
conquest of the Amazon, the planet's lungs, which is being devoured by
forestry businesses.

In tandem, experts predict the rapid transference of land to foreign
hands. The financial magnate George Soros will invest US$800 million in
ethanol distilleries through its local subsidiary, Adecoagro. The
Cargill Group bought 63% of Cevasa, the largest ethanol plant in
Brazil. Global Foods in the United States will invest a billion dollars
to construct ethanol plants. These are just the basic data. Of the
largest 500 companies involved in agribusiness in Brazil, six are
state-owned, 388 are Brazilian, and 106 foreign-owned. But of the
largest 50, 28 are foreign and only 22 Brazilian, according to the June
2007 issue of Exame magazine.

This is the fundamental problem faced by farmers and the poor in
Brazil. Large multinationals are investing in one of the richest
agricultural areas in the world in order to increase their profits.
Even worse is that the State, through its National Bank for Economic
and Social Development (BNDES), finances these large companies and
facilitates the construction of the infrastructure they need. The Lula
administration's Program to Accelerate Growth foresees the investment
of US$9 billion over the next four years to build 46 biodiesel plants,
77 ethanol distilleries, and 1,150 kilometers [690 miles] of fuel
pipelines with BNDES financing.4

As a result of all this, Stédile says in an article in Folha de São
Paulo that the movement focus is on "a democratic agricultural model
that guarantees access to work, land, water, and seeds for all."5 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. 

An Alliance of Underdogs

"We are not positioned to win this battle for the preservation of the
environment if we cannot involve Brazilian society as a whole," says
Gilmar Mauro, an MST leader.6 The South, for example, is facing the
serious problem of forest monoculture for the manufacture of cellulose
paste, which is advancing upon agricultural lands. "People must
understand that each eucalyptus tree consumes 30 liters of water per
day during its first seven years, when it is harvested. The
consequences will be devastating to the environment. Humanity is in
danger, and that is what we want to discuss with people. While we are
concerned about our land, the establishment of a new settlement,
natural resources in the whole world are being destroyed," says Mauro.

The MST is clear that the enemy it faces today is much stronger than
the traditional individual large landholder, with more resources and
better relations with states and politicians. The MST is up against the
alliance of three types of transnational capital: oil companies,
automotive corporations, and agribusinesses. But one of the problems is
that many people truly believe that biofuels are positive and that the
monoculture of sugarcane, eucalyptus, and soy is necessary. That's why
now is the time to launch a great debate to start creating a proposal
for a different type of society.

Landless farm workers are fiercely fighting for the democratization of
communications media, and the Congress Resolution proposes that "each
community in the interior have its own popular communications media,
such as free community radio stations." The emphasis on communication
is part of their plan to strengthen their linkage with other social
movements and build "a Popular Assembly in the municipalities, regions,
and states." The MST envisions alliances with urban movements, aware
that it must have a strong presence in cities to succeed.

The Congress began to elaborate a new agrarian reform proposal. It
maintained that successes over the next years will be measured not by
the amount of land occupied or the number of families settled, but by
the ability to build a broad rural and urban social movement, in which
young people play a major role. Marina dos Santos, a movement
coordinator, clearly defined this stage: "We face the challenge of
finding new forms of struggle other than land occupation. A new type of
action is required that responds to this new wave of capitalism in
rural areas. We must protest the fact that this model does not respond
to the needs of the majority of people. We need other methods to
promote a dialogue with society."7

As an example, on March 8, 2006 and 2007, thousands of women carried
out symbolic actions against multinational agribusinesses in order to
show society at large what is readily apparent only to specialists:
that a small group of companies rules over their lives by controlling
geographical space, biodiversity, and technology. The underlying theme
is no longer land, in the sense of gaining a few acres for poor
farmers, but a model of development different from the current one. To
discuss and design that model it will be necessary to "build unity
among social movements."8

Another important new aspect of the Congress was the support received
from Mexico's Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN). Over the
past two years both movements endeavored to reduce the distance between
them. A message of support signed by Subcomandante Marcos states that
the landless workers "have our hand in friendship, our affection and
respect, but also our admiration," and he highlights the "decision and
firmness" shown in their struggle for land. The Congress closed with a
festive air, but everyone was aware that the movement faces great
difficulties and uncertainties about its own future during the last
years of Lula's administration.

For that reason, the opening speech read by Marina dos Santos reminded
participants that the future of the MST depends on the education
received by children in the settlements. "If our plan is for one year,
we'll plant grain; if we have a two-year plan, let's plant trees. But
if our plan is for a lifetime, we must educate and train people."9


SIDEBAR:

The World's Largest Movement

The "tent city" built in Brasilia housed 17,500 men and women rural
workers over four days, June 11-15, as well as delegates from 21
farmers organizations and 31 countries throughout the world. The
logistical effort to receive them, house them, and secure food and
transportation was gigantic. For those days, living "landless style"
brought the miracle that many things were accomplished with very few
resources. Forty percent of the participants were women.

The organization that today is the MST took its first steps in 1979,
under the military dictatorship, with the first occupation of lands in
Rio Grande del Sur. The first Congress was celebrated in 1985 during
the transition to democracy with the theme, "Without Agrarian Reform,
There is No Democracy," with slightly over a thousand delegates. The
second, in 1990, raised the message, "Occupy, Resist, Produce," and the
third, in 1995, "Agrarian Reform, Everyone's Battle." In 2000, just
before the elections that gave Lula his first victory, the MST held its
fourth Congress, emphasizing "Agrarian Reform: For a Brazil Without
Large Estates."

The movement has 5,000 settlements that occupy slightly more than 22
million hectares [55 million acres], on which two million people live.
Also, there are more than 150,000 landless workers camped in plastic
huts along highways, struggling to obtain land. At the 1,500 settlement
schools the men and women teachers came mostly out of the movement and
teach based on a "pedagogy of the land" which, in broad terms, could be
defined as Paul Freire's popular education adapted to settlement
reality.

Besides a school, each settlement has community spaces for adult
education, healthcare, and religious services for diverse beliefs,
although the immense majority professes Catholicism in a rural version
linked to liberation theology. Production is quite varied and is
adapted to the possibilities of each settlement. The best organized try
to combine family-based production, to assure a certain food
sovereignty, with cooperative agroindustries involving swine, poultry,
and cattle, as well as dairies, mills, and the processing of fruit,
coffee, sugarcane, vegetables, and flour. 

End Notes

1. Evelyn Guilherme interview with João Pedro Stédile.

2. Idem.

3. See the 5th Congress Resolution at the MST website:
http://www.mst.org.br. 

4. Oficial report, "Biocombustibles en Brasil.
Desarrollo y financiación del BNDES" [Biofuels in Brazil. BNDES
Development and Financing]. 

5. Joao Pedro Stédile, "Reforma agraria por justiça e soberania
popular" [Agrarian Reform for Justice and Popular Sovereignty]. 

6. Verena Glass, "MST prioriza alianças políticas, diálogo com a
sociedade e sustentabilidade" [MST Prioritizes Political Alliances,
Dialogo with Society, and Sustainability]. 

7. Marina dos Santos interview. 

8. Osvaldo León citing a MST national coordinator, Neuri Rosseto, "MST
presenta nueva propuesta de reforma agraria" [MST Presents A New
Agrarian Reform Proposal]. 

9. Marina dos Santos, opening speech at the 5th Congress.

[Raúl Zibechi is an international analyst at Brecha, a weekly journal
in Montevideo, Uruguay, professor and researcher on social movements at
the Multiversidad Franciscana de América Latina, and adviser to
grassroots organizations. He writes the monthly "Zibechi Report" for
the CIP Americas Policy Program (www.americaspolicy.org).]