Brazil: Cleomar, Leader of Poor Peasants League in Northern Minas and Bahia is killed in ambush

By CEBRASPO, 23 October 2014

On Wednesday, the peasant Cleomar, coordinator of Liga dos Camponeses Pobres do Norte de Minas e Bahia (Poor Peasants League of Northern Minas and Bahia) was ambushed and killed in Pedra Maria da Cruz, near the Área Revolucionário Unidos com Deus Venceremos, where he lived, worked and struggled with his comrades. Cleomar organized collective honey production in the area, and part of this production he and his fellow workers protested the political repression in Rio de Janeiro, which made him very happy. Recently, Cleomar attended the Congress of the International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL) held in Rio de Janeiro.

We demand investigation and punishment of the perpetrators and masterminds of this crime against the people!

Comrade Cleomar! Presente!

We reproduce below statement from the National Commission of the Poor Peasants League:

Leader of the League of Poor Peasants of Northern Mines and Bahia is murdered in Pedras de Maria da Cruz

Belo Horizonte, October 23, 2014

Comrade Cleomar, Coordinator of Poor Peasants League of North Gerais and Bahia, was cowardly assassinated October 22, 2014, after passing the “cancela do cascalho” (“gate of gravel”) and entering the path to get to the Área Revolucionária Unidos com Deus Venceremos, where he lived, worked and fought for the piece of land along with other companeros.

His body was found pierced by gunfire, according to the first report of his companion who was quite distraught.

We are sending this announcement to all who support and accompany the struggle for land, to denounce this crime of landlordism and this rotten and murderous state, while the Poor Peasants League North Mine is gathering all the information and preparing an honorable farewell to this martyr of the struggle of the people.

We urge everyone to be present at the farewell to this comrade, (despite the distance).

Cleomar was humble, dedicated, responsible, hardworking, combative, intelligent, patient, insightful, politicized. He was a husband and exemplary, respectful, affectionate father.

Cleomar often received death threats, and constantly denounced the authorities, whose attacks continued.

The murder of comrade Cleomar continues the hundreds of attacks and ambushes against peasants struggling for land: at roadblocks, where the companeros must stop; and after hearing the Public Prosecutor, on 09 October, about large landowners closing roads, preventing access to water from artesian wells by the municipal CDR, being evicted from lands occupied by INCRA, but which never received a hearing for justice, was back to square one, as has happened in thousands of cases in this country in recent years.  Cleomar denounced the landowners threats against him, and called for the peasants’ union, vazanteiros, fishermen and Maroons against landlordism to conquer the land.

Cleomar was popular in many areas, Cleomar organized the production of honey by a collective group, and imagine the happiness that he got when he saw “his” honey helping political prisoners protesters in Rio de Janeiro … Cleomar had participated in the early years of the Congress of the International Association of People’s Lawyers, and his interest in the struggles of other people was contagious. Cleomar fought not only for land, Cleomar wanted power for the worker-peasant alliance!

We lift high his name, and uphold and popularize the fight of comrade Cleomar, martyr of our people!

We are filled with pain and anger, hatred, and the spirit of revenge! Against the killers and those responsible for the murder of Cleomar —  First, landowners and their gunmen; Second, this state and its officers and managers, opportunistic scoundrels, who could have prevented the death of the comrade, if they did at least one percent of the Brazilian constitution that says this … Cleomar exposed the Incra and urged people to go and see those who lied and deceived and covered up the crimes.

Pain and anger, hatred, revenge. We demand justice!

Honor and glory to the martyrs of our people!

Long live the struggle for land! Viva Agrarian Revolution!

Comrade Cleomar, Presente!

 

Brazil: Campaign to Defend Against the Threats and Attacks on People’s Lawyer Dr. Ermogenes

URGENT ACTION IN DEFENSE OF BRAZILIAN PEOPLE’S LAWYER Dr. ERMOGENES

Sat Sep 20, 2014

Dr. Ermogenes Jacinto de Souza is a well-known People’s Advocate and a

member of Brazilian Association of People’s Lawyers. He has spent his

professional life defending the poor peasants who have struggled for their

legitimate right to have lands in the State of Rondônia, in Brazilian

Amazon. This area of Brazil has witnessed significant number of murders

planned, ordered and executed by Landlords or their mercenaries.

 

No one forgets the murder of Renato Nathan a teacher and Élcio Machado,

Gilson Gonçalves peasants and dozens of others. The Landlords commit these

atrocities and criminal acts due to lack of rule of law and accountability

in the State of Rondônia. Murder, with total impunity is the fact of life in

Rondônia. The State authorities have failed to act. The Judiciary including

prosecutors and police have been busy dancing to the Landlord’ s tunes. They

are institutionally corrupt and server and assist the landlord to continue

their land grabbing strategies. Dr. Ermogenes have been threatened and

severely restricted in performing his duties as a lawyer.

Brazil: During World Cup Protests, “Free Saibaba” Banners Fly

Brazilian Center of Solidarity with the Peoples – Cebraspo June 13, 2014 Even as popular resistance to the FIFA-excused theft of public resources continued to grow, activists demonstrated on June 12, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, demanding the immediate release of the professor in India, Dr. GN Saibaba, who was abducted and arrested by the Indian fascist state on May 9. GN Saibaba is Delhi University professor of English literature, an active defender of the rights of the people and democracy. Demand the Operation Green Hunt (the war of the Indian State Against the People in India)! Freedom for all political prisoners!

 

“Housing Not Stadiums” protest in Brazil

[Urban reform movement in Brazil reflects the massive popular anger at the mis-allocation of the country’s resources, shown in the displacements of peoples and the huge stadium construction projects for the World Cup championships to be held in Brazil in June. — Frontlines ed.]

Wave of anti-government protests begins in Brazil

May 15, 2014
Associated Press

SAO PAULO (AP) — Protesters began a wave of demonstrations around Brazil on Thursday, burning tires and blocking highways to draw attention to housing and education needs before next month’s World Cup.

In Sao Paulo, the country’s biggest city, demonstrators blocked two key roads into the city and hundreds protested near one of the stadiums built for soccer’s premier tournament.

Brazil Needs a Great Revolution!

[The statement by the Revolutionary Front for the Defense of the People – Brazil (Frente Revolucionária de Defesa dos Direitos do Povo – Brasil), has now been translated into English.  It provides important background on the current rebellion, as well as clarifying the revolutionary program and strategy to move forward. — Frontlines ed.]

———————————————————–

Proletarians and oppressed peoples of the world, unite!

“The law of the people is to fight, fail, fight again, fail again, fight again until victory!” — Chairman Mao Tsetung

Massive protests explode across the country and a spontaneous mass movement  of hundreds of thousands takes the center of large cities and spreads everywhere, shaking and panicking all the old order. A new phase of the developments of the revolutionary situation is seen in protest and rebellion!Major storms are approaching.

The final straw was the brutal repression of the just and peaceful demonstration against the increase of the bus fares in the cities of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The outrage spread across the country and released popular anger no longer stifled by decades of political demagoguery and constant barrage of misleading government propaganda of a Brazil of great progress and improvement. When even television networks, radio and newspapers trumpeted the popularity of President Dilma as the one bringing full employment, creation of a new middle class, the development of the country with a sound economy against the global crisis that sinks the world’s largest economies – this suddenly exploded with the upheavals that arose as a tsunami.

Amid the deep and prolonged general crisis of the imperialist system that causes suffering worldwide, hitting hard working masses with mass unemployment, making brutal cuts in hard-won rights, pushing them to the streets by the millions, in a desperate fight for survival and resistance,  repression launched by the capitalist governments in client countries has been unrelenting.

As a direct result of the contradictions and weaknesses of the economy of our country, dominated and plundered by imperialism, the popular revolt is the release of decades of screams stifled by the ‘eternal’ deception of fraudulent elections and false left demagoguery (PT/Workers Party; PSB/Brazilian Socialist Party; PCdoB/Communist Party of Brazil, etc). What happened? A snap broke the charm of a truth found to be a lie repeated a thousand times, and backfired, no longer the social anesthetic of bread and circuses.

Brazil: Poor Peasants League Honors Revolutionary Martyr Renato as Land Struggle Advances

Vibrant Rally in honor of Renato and against the criminalization of land struggle

Written by LCP Rondônia and Western Amazon, Published on 10/04/2013

On April 9, Jaru was shaken by a vibrant rally and demonstration in honor of the companion Renato and denunciation of his barbaric murder a year ago. The action was also taken in support of new land seizures in the region of Jaru and new campaign against criminalization of the struggle for land, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ênedy, the 7th Battalion of the PM.

The ceremony and demonstration were attended by about 300 people from the four corners of Rondônia, most poor farmers, campers on the land conquered by the Agrarian Revolution. Attended areas: Canaan, the Sun Ray and Renato Nathan 2, Lamarca, Spring and Palmares – Ariquemes, Jaru and Theobroma; Jacinópolis – the region of Buritis; Bentão Zé Renato and Nathan – the region Corumbiara. And yet, the new camps Theobroma: Fortaleza, Bom Futuro, Zé Porphyry farm and camp Arizona 2.

The action was sponsored by Cebraspo – Brazilian Center of Solidarity with the Peoples, the Poor Peasants League of Rondônia and western Amazonia, and the National Leagues of Poor Peasants. Also participating were students, teachers, lawyers, workers, representatives of various democratic movements and entities of Jaru, Rolim de Moura, Porto Velho, Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro:, IHG – Human Rights Institute Helena Grecco, CPT – Pastoral Land Commission Rondônia, DCE Merge – Central Directory of Students of the Federal University of Rondonia, MEPR – Popular Revolutionary Student Movement, Workers League, Sledgehammer – Workers Union of Construction, Moclate – Classista Movement of Workers Education, Catholic Church of Jaru.

The interventions of the peasants and representatives of organizations and movements saluted the memory of the great leader Renato, a peasant who lived, worked and fought among peasants in Corumbiara, Machadinho D’Oeste, Jacinópolis and Jaru. Wherever he went, there was only talk:

– When I was sick, Renato knocked on my door to help me.

– I had so much work, every afternoon the fellow came to my house and was chopping wood for me.

– This bridge and this road was Renato’s idea, so we organized and built on our strengths.

– If not for the Teacher, we would not have this school.

Renato encouraged the people to fight for their rights, not to have illusions about electoral candidates and the “authorities” of governments, relying only on the strength of our organization and militant struggle. Therefore Renato was murdered.

Brazil: Landless Peasant Movement facing violent repression

[See the following statement from CEBRASPO.  The rough English translation is followed by the Portuguese original text. — Frontlines ed.]

CEBRASPO — Brazilian Center of Solidarity with the Peoples

Manga, November 23, 2012 

Cowardly attack by gunmen against families who occupied the farm Beirada  

Criminals!

Cabral and his band of gunmen attacked the peasant families who occupied the Beirada the night of Nov. 22.

Swine!

Cabral went into the occupation with his truck, said to be the “owner” of Beirada and threatened families.

The gunmen were recognized by the peasants and the people are old acquaintances Manga: Frederick Alencar, Ulysses Alencar, William (farm worker), Arnold (Three Rivers), Adalto (official Didimag), Afonso (Boa Vista), Dico (Boa Vista), Mark (New Brasília), Bira and Fabio (wanted for armed robbery at gas station in Ypiranga Manga), Isaiah, Roger Cabral, Toinzinho (New Brasília). All armed by landowners to keep land in the Beirada completely unproductive, and people in poverty.

Cowards!

On the morning of 22, gunmen attacked the families who were camped in a shed of Beirada. Fired guns at them, dropped bombs, and set fire to the families’ belongings. These cowards fired on children, and raided and burned the rooms where they slept. They threatened them with death.

Brazilian activists in solidarity with Lonmin mine workers in South Africa

Centro Brasileiro de Solidariedade aos Povos (CEBRASPO) (The Brazilian Center of Solidarity with the Peoples) repudiates massacre of miners in South Africa

The Brazilian Center of Solidarity with the Peoples vehemently repudiates the cowardly murder of the mine workers of platinum company Lonmin PLC, in Marikana in northwest South Africa, on strike for better wages and rights. The brutal massacre occurred on Thursday, August 16, at the time the workers were protesting. The police mounted a siege against workers with rifles, shooting and killing dozens of people. To date, 36 deaths have been confirmed. According to the South African Ministry of Police, there could be an increase in the number of fatalities, since “a lot of people got hurt.”

Hundreds of miners participated in the protest. Some media has described what happened as “confrontational.” Actually, what happened was not a confrontation but a massacre, because police forces with heavy weapons fired on striking workers as they rallied for fair treatment, armed only with sticks and rocks. The fascist character of the oppressive, violent and murderous state has been exposed. The vicious apparatus of apartheid continues to work in South Africa, with this continuation of the history of class hatred against hardworking black people.

What happened in South Africa is shocking in its barbarism and cowardice, in denying workers the right to express themselves and to fight for dignity and respect for their rights.  It is  a form of fascism. Such cowardly massacres have occurred in various parts of the world and people are responding to this by increasing their resistance against the capitalist system, now in its deepest crisis.

Against the country’s policy of apartheid!
Down with fascism!
Defeat the repression against workers in struggle around the world!

CEBRASPO
Brazilian Center of Solidarity with the Peoples
http://www.cebraspo.org.br

August 17, 2012.

Brazil: Government responsible for the Murder of Teacher and Peasants

URGENT CALL FOR SIGNATURES – MURDER IN THE FIELD

[E-mail your name and reference (profession, organization, group, city) to advogadosdopovo.abrapo @ gmail.com]

Open Letter to the Brazilian people and the international community

Rondônia, April 23, 2012

Brazil Teacher Nathan Renato Gonçalves Pereira, killed by undercover police in Rondonia state, Brazil

The organizations listed below express their deep concerns about the recent murder of Professor Nathan Renato Gonçalves Pereira, the Brazilian state of Rondonia, as well as a series of killings of peasants organized throughout the country.

Renato was a supporter of rural communities in Rondônia, working for literacy and structuring of schools in the countryside. Worked in the Peasant Family School in Corumbiara, the region where they passed one of the worst massacres of peasants in Brazil’s history, the Santa Elina ranch, directly promoted by the state in 1995. He helped assist victims. He then worked in the creation of other schools rated throughout Rondônia. He has always supported the organization of people, as in the construction of bridges and roads and demanding health services and electricity.

According to reports, he returned home on April 9, when he was stopped in a lock and cowardly murdered by undercover police officers. He was executed with three shots at close range, two in the neck and face. His bike was found with his helmet still on the handlebars, therefore, a clear demonstration that would have been rendered and then executed. According to residents, the reason would be a likely revenge the death of a prison guard and a civilian police days earlier. Reportedly, the police were involved in various crimes and murders of workers and peasants in the region of Buritis the behest of landowners and land grabbers.

This fact takes place after a series of killings of peasants organized throughout the country as well as Rondônia, under the glaring silence and complicity of the government of Brazil: Minas Gerais, Valdir Dias Ferreira, Milton Santos Leonor Nunes Nunes and Clestina, in Pernambuco, Tiningo Antonio and Bruno Pedro. Meanwhile several peasants remain arbitrarily imprisoned for fighting for land.

We have received reports that the government has supported Dilma landowners through agreements with its bench in the National Congress for approval of a Forest Code that attacks the foundations of environmental protection requirements and has done little or nothing for Agrarian Reform, and mute or be complicit assassinations, arrests and evictions of peasants and their supporters. The great achievements of the government as the works of hydroelectric plants of Jirau and San Antonio, in Rondônia, and Belo Monte, in Para, have been performed with the eviction of local communities, fishermen, coastal and indigenous peoples, and the brutal repression of workers strike.

For all these reasons, we have evidence for the Brazilian government responsible for the murders of Nathan professorRenato and peasants Valdir Pereira Gonçalves Dias Ferreira, Milton Santos Nunes, Clestina Leonor Nunes, Antonio and Pedro Bruno Tiningo.

We ask the international community to demand that the Brazilian government immediately stop the killings of peasants and their supporters, arbitrary arrests and forced evictions. We also demand the punishment of persons directly involved in these crimes.