Movement Sem Terra

A social movement

Movement Sem Terra

• I will be able to describe human rights issues relating to landless people and government responses to these issues.

Movement Sem Terra

• Brazil is one of the most unequal countries in the world. Out of a population of 186 million just two percent of farmers own more than 50 per cent of land – one of the highest concentrations in the world.

Movement Sem Terra

• What makes the situation worse is that over 40 per cent of the privately owned land in Brazil is not used for anything. It does not produce crops and is not grazed by animals. Yet 46 million people in Brazil go hungry every day.

• Landless workers are victims of violence and murder by police or landowners. The problems of landless workers are an important issue in Brazil because they are the cause of political unrest.

• The Movemento Sem Terra (MST) is Portuguese for the Landless Movement. It began in the 1980s to address the problem of land distribution. It has developed into a highly organised mass social movement.

Movement Sem Terra• The membership of the MST

is made up of the poor who have never had a share in the wealth of Brazil or who have had what little they had taken from them by big ranchers or big business interests.

• Estimates suggest that upwards of 5 million families want the opportunity and the right to cultivate land in Brazil to feed themselves and give their children a home, health care and education.

NAB/ PRELIM

Groups in Brazil who face problems in achieving their

human rights: Women, street children, prisoners, landless people, indigenous people

Why they have these problemsGive relevant examples

Movement Sem Terra• MST has nearly 1.5 million

members and is the largest popular movement in Latin America. While the politicians were for years able to ignore the needs of the poor, the organisation and tactics of MST have forced poverty and land ownership onto the political agenda.

• MST active members identify which land is the best land to occupy. It may take months to decide where and when to occupy land and set up settlements.

Movement Sem Terra

• MST members occupy suitable areas of land to squat on (illegally occupy).

• People are divided into teams that organise security, health, food, building etc.

• Once on the land they immediately start farming, building houses, clinics and schools.

Movement Sem Terra

• These squats involve many more members than those who will eventually farm the land. Members may have to be involved in five or six invasions before they and their family are allocated a squat they can farm for themselves.

• The landowners use violence and intimidation to try to force the settlers away.

Movement Sem Terra

• In one case the ranchers surrounded 52 MST squatters with tractors and heavy farm machinery and armed guards. No one was allowed in or out for 17 days. There was little food. Most of it was fed to the children. The squatters dug a well for water. One male child was shot by one of the hired gunmen. Eventually the tractors left.

Movement Sem Terra• In 1996, 19 MST members

were shot dead by police - no one has been arrested.

• To mark the 10 year anniversary thousands of people took part in demonstrations in March 2006. “There’s no one in jail, nothing has happened,” said one protestor. “So we’re here to take a stand.”

MST in Pictures

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/americas_life_on_a_landless_camp_in_brazil/html/1.stm

March for Land – BBC News Clips

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_4550000/newsid_4557800/4557889.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&ms3=6&ms_javascript=true&nol_storyid=4557889&bbcws=2 (1 minute)

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_4550000/newsid_4550200/4550281.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&news=1&nol_storyid=4550281&bbcws=1 (2 minutes 37)

Activities…• Look at the two views on page 135. Copy

and complete the table below:

The Plantation Owner’s point of view on land distribution

The Plantation Worker’s point of view on land distribution

March for Land Video

• Watch the video then answer the questions on page 136.