VZCZCXRO2907
PP RUEHRG
DE RUEHSO #0876/01 3031237
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 301237Z OCT 07
FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7628
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 8741
RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3149
RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 2913
RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2474
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 3532
RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2176
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 0582
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 3854
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8410
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC 2932
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC 0701
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RHMFISS/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000876 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR WHA/BSC, DRL/IL, INR/IAA, INR/R/AA 
STATE PASS USTR FOR KATE DUCKWORTH 
STATE PASS EXIMBANK 
STATE PASS OPIC FOR DMORONESE, NRIVERA, CVERVENNE 
NSC FOR TOMASULO 
TREASURY FOR JHOEK 
USDOC FOR 4332/ITA/MAC/WH/OLAC 
USDOC FOR 3134/ITA/USCS/OIO/WH/RD 
SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD 
DOL FOR ILAB 
USAID FOR LAC/AA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ELAB PGOV PINR PINS SOCI BR
SUBJECT: TWO KILLED IN MST LAND INVASION SKIRMISH 
 
REF: (A) SAO PAULO 367; (B) 06 SAO PAULO 1054 
     (C) 06 SAO PAULO 332 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary: Two people were shot dead and eight wounded Sunday 
in a clash between members of landless peoples' organizations and 
armed guards protecting a farm owned by the Swiss-owned biotech 
company Syngenta Seeds in Santa Tereza do Oeste, a small town about 
340 miles west of Curitiba, the capital of Parana state.  In 
addition to wanting the land for settlement, the landless movements 
that agitate for agrarian reform oppose and sometimes target 
companies like Syngenta that work with genetically modified 
organisms (GMOs).  As of this writing, the invaders continue to 
occupy the 318-acre property.  "Now keeping the area occupied is a 
question of honor," said one movement leader.  Many observers 
believe that the actions and policies of Governor Roberto Requiao, a 
populist who opposes GMOs, encourage the MST aggression that 
sometimes leads to loss of life.  The incident reaffirms the role of 
Parana in southern Brazil as a frequent battlefield in Brazil's 
ongoing conflicts over land.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) The clash occurred when a group of about 200 militants 
belonging to the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST) and Via 
Campesina attempted to occupy the Syngenta test farm early on the 
morning of October 21.  Private security guards employed by the 
company tried to deter the invasion, and gunfire erupted.  Killed in 
the shooting were Valmir Mota de Oliveira, aka Keno, 32, a leader of 
the MST in Parana state, and Fabio Ferreira, a 25-year-old security 
guard.  Eight people were injured in the fray.  Syngenta admitted 
they had hired a security company to protect the farm but insisted 
that, per worldwide company policy, the force was supposed to be 
unarmed. 
 
¶3.  (U) The Syngenta property was first invaded by land reform 
activists in March 2006, when 600 Via Campesina activists occupied 
the farm to protest against the firm's research on genetically 
modified soybeans (ref C).  A court order issued in July 2007 
required the invaders to vacate the property, and they complied, but 
apparently decided to try again.  Roberto Requiao, Governor of 
Parana and himself an opponent of GMOs - per ref B, in 2003 he 
declared Parana GMO-free and banned the transportation of GMO 
commodities through the state, causing a serious loss of business to 
the Port of Paranagua - supported the movement's actions and tried 
to expropriate the land for the state, alleging it was located in an 
area off-limits to GMO cultivation.  The company ultimately 
prevailed in the courts against the state government, and Requiao 
was eventually forced to modify his anti-GMO stance. 
 
¶4.  (U) MST members claim they expelled a group of guards from the 
Syngenta property over the weekend but that the guards returned 
armed and on the offensive.  "They came back shooting at us," said 
Celso Ribeiro Barbosa, an MST leader.  For their part, the guards 
from the private security firm allege that the activists had 
captured a group of their colleagues so they went to get help and 
came back to rescue them. "When we arrived the activists shot at us. 
 They were heavily armed," said Nerci de Freitas, owner of NF 
Security.  In contrast with Syngenta officials, Freitas asserts that 
the guards are authorized to carry guns on the job. 
 
¶5.  (U) As of the morning of October 30, the invaders are reportedly 
still occupying the Syngenta property.  They may well remain there 
until the owners can get another court order.  Police are 
investigating Sunday's incident and have seven guards in custody on 
charges of murder and criminal gang formation.  They have also 
arraigned Freitas on suspicion of the intentional murder of the MST 
militant.  Parana's Secretary of Public Security characterized NF 
 
SAO PAULO 00000876  002 OF 002 
 
 
Security as an armed militia working in concert with landowners' 
associations.  Police arrested but subsequently released four 
landless movement activists who took part in the conflict.  The 
Parana Bar Association attributed the clash to the ideological 
treatment given by the state government to land conflicts, recalling 
that the government sometimes disobeys or defers action on court 
orders to expel land invaders, which the Bar believes encourages 
more invasions and armed conflicts. 
 
¶6.  (U) In a separate incident, media report that nine people were 
wounded October 24 in clashes between military police and MST 
members in the area of Coqueiros do Sul and Carazinho in northern 
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's southernmost state and another site of 
frequent land invasions.  According to Military Brigade spokesmen, 
some 600 MST members were blocking portions of a highway and trying 
to force their way into the town of Almirante Tamandare do Sul, 
about 190 miles north and west of the capital, Porto Alegre.  The 
Military Brigade claims to have information that "elite squads" of 
MST militants are planning more land invasions in the state. 
 
¶7.  (U) Comment: In April 2006, a Venezuelan delegation led by 
President Hugo Chavez visited Curitiba, capital of Parana state, at 
Governor Requiao's invitation.  During the visit, Chavez and Requiao 
met with MST leader Joao Pedro Stedile, and Chavez addressed an 
audience of MST and Via Campesina militants, sharing his vision of 
socialism and the inevitable end of capitalism.  While a number of 
Brazilian political leaders - especially in President Lula's 
Workers' Party (PT), with which MST is affiliated as an autonomous 
social movement -  sympathize with MST's objectives, Requiao 
(Brazilian Democratic Movement Party - PMDB) is one of the few to 
embrace the movement so openly and encourage its lawless activities. 
 This attitude is often cited by his opponents as a major reason the 
movement is so active in Parana.  The fact that military police 
confronted the MST in Rio Grande do Sul while landowners in Parana 
must depend on private security guards may be one indication of 
differences in approach to the landless movement on the part of the 
two state governments.  End Comment. 
 
¶8.  (U) This cable was cleared by Embassy Brasilia. 
 
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