MST occupies Ministry of Agrarian Development
Landless workers want a meeting with Dilma; occupation marks the beginning of "Red April"; approximately 1,5 protesters participate in the demonstration in front of the Ministry of Agrarian Development; police estimate that 300 people invaded the building.
Agência Brasil – Members of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) occupied the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) building in Brasília this morning. According to José Damasceno, from the movement's national coordination, the occupation began at 5:40 am and opens the "struggle day" in the Red April campaign.
According to Damasceno, the MST wants "the president [Dilma Rousseff] to schedule a meeting with the workers." The activist's assessment is that "the government, after one year and four months in office, has not initiated agrarian reform" due to "a lack of political priority."
According to José Damasceno, the Presidential Palace has demonstrated that it "wants to develop Brazil," but to do so "it is necessary to resolve a social debt," he said, referring to the concentration of land ownership in the country. "Agrarian reform is a social and productive measure: it stimulates the economy, generates income, and also increases food production."
The MST is expected to carry out other land and public building occupations throughout the week (such as the offices of the Ministry of Finance and the headquarters of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform, Incra, in the states), Damasceno reported.