TC | Vision | V/O | SYNC |
| Deserted road, cow carcass |
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10:00:34 | Interview: (Valdir, Peasant): |
| "It 's dying. The drought is tough. There's nothing to do. It has to die. Most of the cattle have already died. You can't do anything. The loss is enormous especially for the poor people. It's all suffering here. There's no water, no work. Everybody suffers here". |
10:01:18 |
| The droughts return each year, as if the land were cursed. The few plants that do force their way to the surface, languish for lack of water. The animals suffer, and there are few |
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10:01:51 | Interview: (João, Peasant) |
| "We just don't drink water. There's nothing to drink because there's no water. What can we do". |
10:02:00 |
| Without water, without food, some turn to hunting wild animals. If they have any luck they try to sell part of their catch for a little money. Even this does not guarantee a daily meal, something, anything to fill the stomach. |
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10:02:17 | Interview: (Lindinalva, Peasant) |
| "Our daily life is a struggle. One day there's food, the next day nothing. There are days in which we have nothing to eat". |
10:02:39 |
| Yet the suffering of the people is |
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10:03:07 |
| Brasilia, seat of government and |
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10:03:42 |
| Osvaldo Coelho is one of the |
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10:04:06 |
| He's from the state of Pernambuco, in Brazil's desolate Northeast. Here's he known as the most powerful landlord. With his political and economic power, he's the man who decides who will have water... and who will not. |
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| Subtitle: Music: "Because the land is owned by the |
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10:04:34 | Interview: (Osvaldo Coelho): |
| "I belong to a family with a great public and humanitarian spirit, very dedicated to work. The efforts have to be ceaseless. That's our secret... unflagging effort and a lot of human solidarity and a great humanitarian spirit". |
10:05:18 |
| Osvaldo Coelho recognises he's |
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10:05:26 | Interview: (Osvaldo Coelho) |
| "I'm a landlord. I have a hundred hectares with mango-irrigation, forty hectares with grapes, and I also breed cattle. I take care of my property". |
10:05:41 |
| But the interests of Osvaldo |
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10:05:49 | Interview: (Lewy, Regional peasant leader) |
| "The Coelhos' power is both economical and political. This is an area ruled by traditional politicians. They have been ruling for over 30 years locally, as well as on the provincial and federal levels in this State. They are also the main businessmen in the region". |
10:06:22 |
| Here water means power and that power is visible everywhere in the town of Petrolina, principal town of the region. On every corner, the political and economic strenghth of Coelho can be seen. Petrolina is situated on the bountiful River San Francisco. Here the prosperity is in deep contrast to the misery of the countryside. |
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10:06:50 | Interview: (Guilherme Coelho, Mayor of Petrolina) |
| "Federal deputy Osvaldo Coelho has politics in his blood. He's |
10:07:17 |
| Times change and in what was once a solid scheme of absolute power, a small but important dissident voice is making itself heard. |
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10:07:27 | Interview: (Cristina, Deputy Council of Petrolina): |
| "In Petrolina there's a group that belongs to the same family |
| Subtitle: Music |
| "They say the Coelhos' feel like saints. I can speak freely because I don't depend on him. They say he only gives water when you vote for him". |
10:08:17 |
| Water trucks from Petrolina leave to assist the poor peasant, without which he cannot survive. |
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10:08:24 | Interview: (Lewy, Regional peasant leader) |
| "People have to walk for miles in order to get water. So, when a watertruck comes to your home, promising that it will return every time you need water, you will surely vote even for your worst enemy, because you are aware that the drought will return every year". |
10:08:47 |
| Osvaldo Coelho has experience which power provides and knows, thanks to this helping hand to the poor, his re-elections are assured. |
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10:08:57 | Interview: (Osvaldo Coelho): |
| "I believe that I'm admired very much for what I do. I think that my political acts express what people and the community expect me to do. That's why I'm always re-elected. It is a testimony of admiration and prestige". |
10:09:32 | Interview (Bishop Tomas Balduíno, Pres. Land |
| "Here in Brasil we have so much land but concentrated in very few hands. There is no land reform in Brasil. For the government that possibility doesn't exist. My experience as a bishop is that all small farms where peasants are now producing were obtained -and |
10:10:15 | Interview: (Soraia, Peasant): |
| "We are farmers. We want to work. We are not fighting a war". |
| Subtitle: Occupying...... resisting...... producing |
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10:10:29 |
| Year after year, drought. Year |
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10:11:25 |
| Because of their desperation, they decide to occupy the same farm for a third time. |
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10:11:32 | Interview: (Misael, Peasant): |
| "We must all stay, because we shouldn't be afraid of the police or the gunmen that will come. Fear will kill us. Those who are afraid and run, are weak and will never survive. Only those who have the courage to resist, they will |
10:12:02 | Interview: (Bishop Tomas Balduíno, Pres. Land commission Catholic Church): |
| "Most of the politicians in the Congress are landlords. Their main concern is to press the government through personal interviews, phone calls and other ways so as to influence the right person in government or in the Congress. They are a strong group". |
10:12:32 | Interview: (Osvaldo Coelho): |
| "They already invaded my land. I went to court and won the case. It was only a small farm of 14 hectares. If the law says that the right of property does exist, it's |
10:13:04 |
| The peasants from the Landless |
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10:13:15 | Interview: (Evair, Peasant): |
| "We were moved out during the first occupation and then a second time, but we stayed together as a group. Now some have abandoned since we started this new move. But we're here again with the hope that some day we will win and get |
10:13:52 | Interview: (Duceneia, Peasant |
| "I'm here because of God's will. We are going to fight with his help so that the government will give us a piece of land to raise our children on". |
10:14:11 |
| This time, however, they know they are not alone. Now there are thousands of families will have decided to resist the suffering of hunger, of daily thirst. Settlements of the Landless Movement are growing all over the region. Out of their struggle they have persuaded the Federal government to agree, on a case by case basis, if these lands, unproductive before being taken over, can be considered for appropriation under the land reform laws. But this is a parliamentary process, by its very nature a long-term affair. Meantimes there is no food, the hunger continues. What can be done? |
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10:14:50 | Interview: (Conceição, Peasant |
| "We are not letting our children starve. We've waited for help from the government but it never comes. So we go and get it on the highway over there. If we stay |
| Subtitle: Music |
| "I see women, children and men crying. They must plunder in order not to starve". |
10:15:20 |
| The food is on the highway. It is |
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10:15:40 |
| Spontaneous plundering of |
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10:16:16 |
| The peasants control the highway, |
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10:16:38 | Interview: (Evarista, Truckdriver |
| "They are going to take my truck to who knows where in the bush. Where's the police and the army to arrest these people? I've never seen this before. They are taking me into the bush to unload my truck. He's one of them and two others are already in the cabin". |
10:17:24 | Interview: (Edson, Truckdriver |
| "I think it's a shame that the federal government doesn't help these people here". |
10:17:35 | Interview: (Antônio, Local leader MST): |
| "Hunger is a real problem. There are 6000 people that have been without food for nine months and the government doesn't provide any help. We are plundering because we need food. This is not an assault, we don't steal money, all we want is food. We plunder because there is hunger, poverty and unemployment. As long as there are peasants without land and people suffering in the countryside there will be plunder". |
10:18:16 |
| The Landless quickly organise |
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10:18:41 | Interview: (Wanderley, Truckdriver |
| "I think this is all wrong. It 's not correct. People are out of control". |
10:19:00 |
| Milk is one of the most |
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10:19:18 |
| The Landless will now do anything to obtain food, in spite of a history of patience. They don't care if they are considered as thieves, as highwaymen, possibly stealing from others as |
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10:19:38 | Interview: (Bishop Tomas Balduíno, Pres. Land commission Catholic Church): |
| "When there is hunger and basic needs are not provided, goods become common property. Then for Saint Thomas of Aquino private goods do not exist. Under these circumstances, plundering trucks with food and bring that food to people with hunger becomes totally legitimate. For us that means in no |
10:20:13 |
| These frequent acts of plunder and the occupations of land affect Coelho's power. Equally these acts by the landless Movement enhance the strength of the peasants. Coelho tries the |
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10:20:31 | Interview: (Osvaldo Coelho): |
| "This project is entirely founded and created by my wife. She is the brain behind all this. She takes care of it with a lot of love and solidarity". |
10:20:50 |
| The situation of instability has |
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10:21:02 | Interview: (Adão Pretto, National Deputy PT |
| "These deputies indicate to the government who they want |
10:21:38 |
| Equally in Pernambuco, Coelho's |
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10:21:50 | Interview: (Fernando Coelho, Opposition leader) |
| "There is a political struggle between his section and the one I |
10:22:10 | 58 Interview: (Fernando Coelho, Opposition leader): |
| "I condemn the methodology he uses to maintain his public life, |
10:22:43 | Interview: (Jaime Amorim, Leader MST): |
| "We have to maintain the spirit of struggle we had until now. For our |
10:23:12 |
| The Catalunha farm. Occupied two years ago by the Landless Movement. Now they are celebrating. They slaughter some cows for the party. For the very first time, a farm which had been the property of a landlord-politician has been expropriated by the government and given to the peasants who occupy it. |
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| Subtitle: Catalunha, sweet victory |
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10:23:39 | 62 Interview: (Jaime Amorim, Leader MST) |
| "Specially in this region which is practically ruled by one family in both the countryside and the towns, the Coelho-family... if they feel sad today then we feel satisfied. This is a huge victory for the Landless Movement and above all for land reform". |
10:24:03 | Subtitle: Music: "The landworker who works day and night on |
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| 800 families suffered through |
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10:24:16 | Interview: (Rosalino, Peasant): |
| "Now, I'm proud to be a landless with land". |
| Subtitle: Music: "The struggle from the people in Brazil has |
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| End credits |
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Jan Thielen - Buenos Aires
Tel/Fax (00-54-11) 4362 2889 mobile (00-54-11) 4449 7007
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