'DEM wants to strengthen the coup movement'

Brazilian congressman Valmir Assunção, from the Workers' Party (PT), refutes statements by his parliamentary colleague José Carlos Aleluia, from the Democrats (DEM), who blames the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) for the traffic accident that killed three people after a protest in Sergipe; "If that were the case, I could attribute to him and his group the responsibility for the murder of the 21 landless people in Eldorado dos Carajás, since the state of Pará was governed by the PSDB, an ally of the DEM in all the shady deals involving the interests of the population. The DEM is prejudiced and is trying to strengthen a coup movement against democracy, because it cannot accept its defeat at the polls in 2014," says Valmir.

March 16, 2015, 16:51 PMUpdated May 27, 2019, 09:19 AM

Brazilian congressman Valmir Assunção, from the Workers' Party (PT), rebuts statements by his parliamentary colleague José Carlos Aleluia, from the Democrats (DEM), who blames the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) for the traffic accident that killed three people after a protest in Sergipe; "If that were the case, I could attribute to him and his group the responsibility for the murder of the 21 landless people in Eldorado dos Carajás, since the state of Pará was governed by the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), an ally of the DEM in all the shady deals involving the interests of the population. The DEM is prejudiced and is trying to strengthen a coup movement against democracy, because it cannot accept its defeat at the polls in 2014," says Valmir (Photo: Romulo Faro).

Bahia 247 - Federal deputy Valmir Assunção, from the Workers' Party (PT), refuted statements made by his parliamentary colleague José Carlos Aleluia, from the Democrats (DEM), who accused the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) of being responsible for the traffic accident that killed three people after a demonstration in Sergipe last week.

"If that were the case, I could attribute to him and his group the responsibility for the murder of the 21 landless peasants in Eldorado dos Carajás, since the state of Pará was governed by the PSDB, an ally of the DEM in all the shady deals involving the interests of the population," says Valmir Assunção.

The Workers' Party member also says that the DEM congressman "is prejudiced and is trying to strengthen a coup movement against democracy because he cannot accept his defeat at the polls in 2014."

"Throughout the history of Brazil, the DEM party has always supported policies that have hindered the advancement of the people. Bahia is an example of this, one of the states with the lowest per capita income in the country, precisely because the policies directed by the DEM group have oppressed the people of Bahia. It was Jaques Wagner who began to restore the self-esteem of the people of Bahia. Today, Rui Costa continues this work."

Regarding the complaint, Assunção states that a lawsuit has already been filed in the Federal Chamber against Nilson Leitão (PSDB-MT), not against Aleluia. Three federal deputies linked to the MST decided to file the complaint against Leitão, who attempted to criminalize the movement. Valmir Assunção, João Daniel (PT-SE), and Marcon (PT-RS) countered the parliamentarian's attacks, which included derogatory language against the MST.

Regarding the accident in Sergipe, Valmir lamented what happened and recounted the events. "A truck was unable to reduce its speed in time when BR-101 was being cleared by MST protesters. The truck ended up hitting the cars that were stopped. I feel solidarity with the families for this tragedy. But I could not allow the families' pain to be used by Representative Aleluia, or anyone else, to fuel hatred towards the MST and promote its criminalization."