By Sam Cowie
Sao Paulo
An estimated 2,000 members of Brazil’s landless workers movement occupied the Ministry of Finance in Brasilia on Monday, demanding changes to a land reform.
Members of MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra) allege that the federal government has reduced funding in half for agrarian reform from $1 billion (3.5 billion real) to $500 million (1.8 billion real) while providing increased subsidies to big agribusiness.
Protesters arrived at the building at about 5.30 a.m. and say they intend to remain there until they meet with government officials and receive answers to their demands for a revision of the budget cuts, according to the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper.
In a video posted on Facebook, the group’s national coordinator blames President Dilma Rouseff and Finance Minister Joaquim Levy for the funding reduction. “Her [Rouseff’s] first term was terrible for agrarian reform, awful. Her second term is going the same way. And with the budget cuts from Joaquim, things will only get worse,” said Alexandre Conceição.
MST also occupied finance ministries in other cities across the country, including Porto Alegre, Recife, Fortaleza, Florianópolis, Curitiba, Palmas, Paraíba and Bahia.
One of Brazil’s largest social movements with an estimated 1.5 million members, MST was formed during the late 1970s – when Brazil was ruled by a military dictatorship – and seeks to address the country’s historic uneven distribution of land.
The group considers its main objectives to be the fight for land, agrarian reform and a more just society. According to the group, just 3 percent of the country’s population own nearly two-thirds of arable land.
