[E-rundbrief] Info 566 - MST Brazil Congress Message

Matthias Reichl info at begegnungszentrum.at
Mo Jun 18 20:50:24 CEST 2007


E-Rundbrief - Info 566 - MST/ Movement of 
Landless Rural Workers (Brazil): Letter to the 
people from the 5th MST National Congress, 
Brazilia, 15.6.2007. Agrarian Reform: For Social 
Justice and Popular Sovereignty!

Bad Ischl, 18.6.2007

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

===================================================

Letter to the people from the 5th MST National Congress.

We, 17,500 Landless rural workers from 24 states 
in Brazil, 181 international delegates 
representing 21 peasant organizations from and 
friends from several movements and organizations, 
met in Brazilia from June 10th to 15th, 2007, for 
the 5th MST National Congress too discuss and 
analyze the problems in our society to find alternative solutions.

We commit to go on helping in the organization of 
people, to be able to struggle for their rights 
and against inequalities and social injustices. And we commit to the following:

1. To network with all social sectors and their 
forms of organization in to build a popular 
project to confront neo-liberalism, imperialism 
and the structural causes of the problems that affect Brazilian people.

2. To defend our rights against any policy that 
tries to remove rights already conquered.

3. To struggle against privatizations of public 
patrimony, the transposition of Rio São Francisco 
and for the reestatization of public companies that have been privatized.

4. To struggle for all latifundios* to be 
expropriated with priority to those owned by foreign capital and banks.

5. To fight against the logging and burning of 
native forests for the expansion of  latifundios.

6. To fight against transnational corporations 
that want to control seeds, Brazilian production 
and agricultural trade such as Monsanto, 
Syngenta, Cargill, Bungue, ADM, Nestlé, Basf, 
Bayer, Aracruz, Stora Enso, among others. To stop 
them from further exploiting our nature, our labour and our country.

7. Demand the end of slave labour, the super 
exploitation of labour and the punishment of the 
perpetrators. All latifundios that use any form 
of slave labour must be expropriated, without any 
compensation, as stated in the Amendment of the 
Constitutional Bill which was elected at first instance in the City Chamber.

8. To fight against all forms of violence in the 
countryside, as well as the crimilization of 
Social Movements. Demand punishment for the 
murderers  those who hired and the executors  of 
all those fighting for the Agrarian Reform, which 
go unpunished or their law suits are paralised in the Judiciary System.

9. To struggle to limit the size of land 
ownership. For the legal recognition of the 
historical rights of indigenous peoples and afro-descendents to their land.

10. To fight for the production of agri-fuels to 
be under control of peasants and rural workers, 
as part of the policulture, with environmental 
protection and seeking the energetic sovereignty of each region.

11. To defend native and creole seeds. To 
struggle against GMO seeds. Promote the practices 
of agro-ecology and agricultural techniques that 
respect the environment. Settlements and rural 
communities must give priority to produce foods 
without agro-chemicals for the internal market.

12. To defend fresh water springs fountains and 
reservoirs. Water is a common good from Nature 
and it belongs to humanity. It cannot be privatized by any corporation.

13. To preserve forests and promote the planting 
of native and fruit trees, in all settlement 
areas and rural communities, contributing for the 
environmental preservation and in the struggle against global warming.

14. To struggle  for the working class to have 
access to basic, secondary and public higher 
education, of excellent quality and free.

15. To develop different ways of organizing 
campaigns and programmes to eradicate illiteracy 
in rural areas and in Brazilian society as whole, 
using transformative pedagogical guidelines.

16. Struggle for each settlement or community in 
the countryside to have their own popular media, 
such as, free community radio stations. Struggle 
for the democratization of all media in society 
contributing to create political awareness and the respect of popular culture.

17. To strengthen the network with rural social 
movements in Via Campesina Brazil, in all states 
and regions. To build alliances with all Social 
Movements and Popular Assemblies in counties, regions and states.

18. Contribute in the construction of all 
possible mechanisms for the popular integration 
in Latin-America, through ALBA  Bolivarian 
Alternative the Peoples of the Americas. Exercise 
INTERNATIONAL solidarity with people who suffer 
the aggressions of the empire, specially at the 
moment, the people in CUBA, HAITI, IRAQ and PALESTINE.

We call the Brazilian people to organize and 
struggle for a fair and egalitarian society, 
which will only be made possible with the 
mobilization of everyone. The great 
transformations are always the work of people 
organized. And, we from the MST, commit to never give up and always struggle.

*Latifundio  large land holding


AGRARIAN REFORM: For Social Justice and Popular Sovereignty!

Brazilia, 15 June 2007

===========================================================

Zusammengestellt von:
Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
Spenden-Konto Nr. 0600-970305 (Blz. 20314) 
Sparkasse Bad Ischl, Geschäftsstelle Pfandl
IBAN: AT922031400600970305    BIC: SKBIAT21XXX






Mehr Informationen über die Mailingliste E-rundbrief