(São Paulo, September 23, 2015) The National Direction of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) issues this statement to condemn the assault suffered by the member of the national coordination of MST, João Pedro Stédile, at the airport of the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, this Thursday evening.
For the MST this is not an isolated event, it reflects the current political situation that Brazil is going through, in which the hatred against the popular movements, immigrants and the poor black population is growing. This is reflected by the recent events in Rio de Janeiro, where the marginalized youth from favelas are being prevented, at risk of assault, from going to the beaches of the south part of the city.
These acts of violence and hatred have spread over the social media, and reverberate increasingly on the streets. It is another demonstration of the brutality of Brazilian elite groups willing to promote a wave of violence and hatred against the people.
Another recent event of hatred against Stédile – was when a wanted dead or alive poster was posted on social media. This, we also see the dimension of this event has its origins, above all, in a manipulative media that distorts information, at the same time that promotes hatred and prejudice against those who think differently.
These media, at the service of a mad and fascist right, are responsible for generating this kind of criminal and hateful minds, feeding the streets and social media with anti-social end inhumane values.
However, these attitudes are not capable of keeping us from the struggle for land reform and the social rights that were historically denied to the Brazilian people. We condemn and don’t accept any kind of assault or insult against any participant of the popular movements defending and fighting for social justice.
We commit to remain in the streets fighting in defense of democracy, the civil rights, the working class and the respect for human values.
“Dare to fight, dare to win!”
Lutar, Construir Reforma Agrária Popular! (Struggle, build Popular Agrarian Reform!)
