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FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4765
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 5916
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 2799
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6939
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2121
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 2468
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 1884
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 1629
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 2673
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUMIAAA/USCINCSO MIAMI FL
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 0609
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2338
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SAO PAULO 000332 
 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC FOR SCRONIN 
STATE PASS USTR MSULLIVAN/KLEZNY 
DEPT FOR WHA/BSC, DS/IP/WHA, DS/DSS/ITA 
 
DEPT OF TREASURY FOR FPARODI 
USDOC FOR 332/ITA/MAC/WH/OLAC/JANDERSEN/ 
ADRISCOLL/MWARD 
USDOC ALSO FOR 3134/USFCS/OIO/EOLSON/ 
DDEVITO/DANDERSON 
DOL FOR ILAB MMITTELHAUSER 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR PREL ELAB PGOV PHUM ECON SOCI ASEC BR
SUBJECT:  LANDLESS MOVEMENT'S EARLY YEAR ACTIVITIES 
LEAD WAY TO ANNUAL "RED APRIL" 
 
REF:  A) 05 Sao Paulo 554 AND PREVIOUS 
 
 B) 05 Brasilia 2692 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Land invasions led by the Movimento dos 
Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless 
Rural Workers Movement - MST) and allied groups 
have begun in the Sao Paulo Consular District 
(southern and part of southeastern Brasil) in 
anticipation of the annual Red April protests 
(ref A).  Early March MST activity has occurred 
nationwide, with a number of invasions in Sao 
Paulo, Parana, Rio Grande do Sul, and Mato 
Grosso do Sul states since the beginning of 
the year.  Two thousand members of a women's 
movement apparently allied with MST gained 
extensive and negative press coverage for 
their destruction of private agribusiness 
property, including seedlings, research results, 
and laboratory facilities, valued at USD 400,000. 
Despite an active early year, "Red April" of 2005 
in the Sao Paulo Consular district was relatively 
quiet, in deference to the recently deceased Pope 
John Paul II and in preparation for the nationwide 
protest march that occurred in May 2005.  There 
are clear indications, however, that invasions 
and protests in 2006 will be more vigorous.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
EARLY YEAR INVASIONS 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The first months of 2006 have seen a spate 
of land invasions in the Pontal do Paranapanema in 
the far west of Sao Paulo state, and in Rio Grande 
do Sul, BrazilQs southernmost state.  On January 7, 
the MST conducted its largest land invasion since 
2003 in the Pontal, as over 500 landless workers 
invaded eight farms.  According to the invasion 
coordinator, Vagumiar Nunes, the January action 
was a protest against the broken promises of Sao 
Paulo Governor (and now opposition presidential 
candidate) Geraldo Alckmin, who, during his 
gubernatorial campaign in 2002, pledged to "settle" 
1,400 landless families.  (NOTE: The Pontal region 
has traditionally been a focus of land disputes due 
to a history of forged land deeds and illegal sales 
of property, resulting in possession of the land by 
now wealthy and established farmers.  In some cases, 
the state has sought to reclaim title, and the 
ambiguity is exploited by MST.  END NOTE)  In Rio 
Grande do Sul, the 2,000 landless workers occupying 
a 7,000 hectare ranch, Fazenda Coqueiros, received 
word that they will have to depart, by order of civil 
judge Orlando Faccini Neto.  The current occupation 
of Fazenda Coqueiros is the fourth invasion of the 
property since 2004.  (NOTE: Brigadier Colonel Waldir 
Cerutti reportedly stated that nearly 600 military 
police would be needed to oust the occupiers.  END 
NOTE.) 
 
¶3.  Allied with the QVia CampesinaQ Rural Movement 
and foreign NGOs, MST has registered the largest 
 
SAO PAULO 00000332  002 OF 003 
 
 
number of early-year land invasions in the past five 
years.  (NOTE: In an interesting March 9 photo in the 
large-circulation daily QO Estado de Sao Paulo,Q MST 
leader Joao Pedro Stedile is seen at a demonstration 
in bright green Via Campesina hat and scarf, rather 
than the usual red MST gear.  END NOTE.)  In addition 
to its land invasions, MST has also established a 
Qparallel conferenceQ near the site of the March 
20-31 8th Conference of the Parties (COP-8) to the 
UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 
Curitiba, Parana state.  Demonstrations have been 
peaceful. 
 
LONG-TIME MST LEADER PUNISHED BY SUPERIORS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (U) Jose Rainha Jr., long-time prominent MST 
leader in the Pontal do Paranapanema, was recently 
divested of responsibility by MST higher-ups for 
failure to obey orders and to follow the principles 
and norms of the movement.  He is accused of 
participating in "isolated and individual 
negotiations and acts without authority" of the MST 
hierarchy.  The media reported MST leadershipQs 
unhappiness with a public embrace of President Luiz 
Inacio Lula da Silva by Rainha when the two met 
during a series of invasions of public buildings 
last September in northern Brazil.  MST authorities 
have forbidden Rainha to speak on behalf of the 
movement.  MST leadership, dissatisfied with the 
slow rate of land redistribution in the country, 
has stepped up its criticism of the Brazilian j 
ustice system, arguing that it serves the needs 
of the landholding elite.  MST spokesperson Jaime 
Amorim reported that there is a belief among 
Brazilian judges that the landless movement is 
criminal and should be treated as such. 
 
AGRI-BUSINESS ATTACKED 
---------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) On March 8, 2000, women militants of the 
"Movimento das Mulheres Camponesas (Peasant Women's 
Movement)," a group apparently allied with the 
MST and Via Campesina, invaded an agri-business 
facility in Rio Grande do Sul.  The attackers 
destroyed research files, experimental seedlings, 
and other property at the Aracruz Cellulose company 
installation.  Aracruz Cellulose, a Brazilian 
leader in breeding and development of primary 
stock for silviculture, claims to have lost twenty 
years of research in breeding and propagation 
studies. On March 15, 600 rural activists invaded 
an experimental farm of the multinational Syngenta 
Seeds in rural Parana state, in protest of their 
use of GMOs.  According to press reports, the 
government plans to prosecute MST leader Stedile 
for his public comments in support of the attack 
on Aracruz Cellulose, which caused USD 400,000 
worth of damage. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Just days after the March 14 announcement 
as the Brazilian Social Democracy PartyQs (PSDB) 
presidential nominee, Sao Paulo governor Geraldo 
Alckmin stated that he believes the MST has 
 
SAO PAULO 00000332  003 OF 003 
 
 
traded its original agenda of legitimate agrarian 
reform for "vandalism."  Alckmin was quoted in 
the press as saying that "invading laboratories 
and research centers has nothing to do with 
agrarian reform."  When asked how he would reform 
agriculture if elected President, Alckmin stated 
that while agrarian reform is necessary, mere land 
redistribution is not enough.  Technical support is 
essential, as is selection of those likely to have 
success working the land. 
 
COMMENT: NOT MUCH SYMPATHY FROM PRESS OR PUBLIC 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) MST leadership has promised an active 
early year, filled with land invasions, highway 
shutdowns and other demonstrations, before the 
country turns its attention to the World Cup in 
June and the election campaign later in the year. 
Press reporting of the rural protest activities is 
particularly heavy this year, and much of it is 
negative.  The popular Brazilian weekly QVeja 
compared the March 8 actions of women militants 
against the Aracruz Cellulose facility to the 
burning of books by Nazi Germany or the Spanish 
Inquisition.  Public opinion is also critical: 
According to a recent poll conducted by the 
Brazilian Institute for Public Opinion and 
Education (IBOPE), 56 percent of those surveyed 
held a negative view of MSTQs actions, 76 percent 
believed invasions of privately held land weakens 
democracy, and 67 percent believed that the 
government is not able to control the invasions. 
MST, however, purportedly does not care.  As another 
leader, Jaime Amorim, put it, QWeQre not worried 
about our image.Q  End comment. 
 
MCMULLEN