Duration: 9 mins 14 secs

June 2001

(David Notman-Watt)

00:02 Sao Paulo in southern Brazil. A cloud of smog hangs over its seventeen million inhabitants, it's the world's third largest city with a thriving international business presence.

00.16 Space is at a premium. In a country where social and economic disparity mean the vast percentage of people live in conditions of abject poverty - the city acts as a magnet.

00.21 Every year thousands of people migrate to cities like Sao Paulo in search of a better life.

00:32 Most end up in slums like these. These 'favelas' are home to millions of Brazilians. It is an all too common story. With city unemployment levels high, many turn to lives of crime, drug abuse, prostitution. But a movement is growing that could offer these people an alternative.

00:52 Five hundred kilometres from Sao Paulo, Sergio Oliveira performs his morning ritual and collects eggs laid overnight. Four years ago he was trapped in the city with no job, and nowhere to go. He talks of desperate times. One day he heard of an organization that was taking ordinary people like him from the cities and driving them to the interior of the country to squat on unproductive farms. The group would refuse to leave until the government awarded the squatter's the legal right to farm. The group was the MST, or Landless Movement. They were fighting agrarian reform. Today, Sergio farms 18 hectares.

01:28 SERGIO FARIAS OLIVEIRA, MST MEMBER-SPOKESMAN, IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

"So you see with a lot of suffering, a lot of difficulty, many are trying as hard as they can to stay in the country. And this is where we belong. And this is where we want to stay. We belong here. What would we do in the city? Compete for jobs with city people? We're already at a disadvantage if we do this because we're not prepared for that. We are country people, we are farmers. We know how to plant. And this is what we have to do. We have to plant for the people who are in the city. And we have to plant a good quality product."

02:01 Sergio grows coffee and corn on his land. But he also finds time to campaign on behalf of the MST. Since its formation in 1984, the group has settled over quarter of a million families on reclaimed land. But there are an estimated 4.8 million without land.

02:20 While they wait for their cases to work their way through the country's notoriously slow judicial system, campaigners live in camps like these, sometimes waiting for years to be awarded land titles. This is the Acampamento Dorcelina Folador, named after an activist, murdered over one year ago. More than six hundred families have squatted here for the past three months. They have come from all over the country. Some are too young to know any different.

02:59 And every day new arrivals are swelling the numbers - driven by the same dream - farming their own land. The reality is in Brazil that twenty per cent of the population own ninety percent of the land. For campaigners this statistic alone justifies their actions. And it is the lack of alternatives which has ensured that the MST has grown into Latin America's largest popular movement.

03:27 Sergio often visits the camp to offer support and advice, and to help plan future protests. He also donates a percentage of his produce to help his comrades.

But the MST's technique is a controversial one, enraging both farmers and politicians.

Violent conflicts with landowners and intimidation have become commonplace.

03:50 Serginho witnessed one campaigner being run over and killed by a hit and run driver in this camp last month. For him and his friends, the police verdict of accidental death came as no surprise.

04:01 SERGINHO, LANDLESS CAMPAIGNER, IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

"Who killed who, who ordered the killings, they're out there, walking around freely wanting to kill, wanting to kill more of us. The government, especially President Fernando Henrique who we think is a scoundrel, tell society that that a given man's death was a warning, an alert for workers. This makes us even more angry. The police today are working for the big landowners, the major capitalists, and not for us workers. The workers are now starting to suffer because of this."

04:38 (File TV GLOBO Various of clashes between police and MST supporters in Curitiba, Parana on May 2, 2000)

In May last year images from the state of Parana shocked the country. Busloads of Landless Campaigners were making their way to state capital Curitiba to hold a demonstration. Roads were blocked by armed police. The ensuing battle left one dead, and dozens injured. (PAUSE 3) Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowds. The MST accused them of strong-arm tactics. (PAUSE 2) The police insist they were acting lawfully.

05:12 (UPSOUND Commentary of reporter)

The tear gas and baton charges have left a bitter legacy between the authroities and MST members, both those caught up in this trouble and others further afield.

05:29 1600 kilometres north of Sao Paulo campaigners take over government buildings in the city of Salvador. This is the state headquarters of INCRA - The National Institute for the Colonization of Agrarian Reform - the government department in charge of allocating and distributing unused land. Hopelessly understaffed and overworked, INCRA workers have gone on strike - claiming the government's policy on agrarian reform is inadequate. Even they have sided with the MST.

05:58 Hundreds of families have occupied the buildings, sleeping wherever there is space. At the time these pictures were filmed they spoke of staying here for months. But two days afterwards police moved in and cleared the area. There were a number of arrests. Some were injured. Despite the setback, INCRA workers have vowed to continue their strike.

06:21 RENATO JOSE LORDELHO, SPOKESMAN FOR INCRA (NATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR RE-SETTLEMENT AND AGRARIAN REFORM), IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

"We are here as public servants, aware that the policies that have been adopted by this government are against the long term welfare of this country's workers and we, as Brazilians and as public servants that we are, paid by the country's taxes, need to be on the side of the workers. We need to unite, to join forces and tell the government that even though we are part of the governmental structure, that current policies are not right."

06:55 But even obtaining the land does not necessarily signify the end of the struggle. Ismael and his family were finally awarded this plot one year ago after four years of camping by the side of a highway. Money promised by the government to turn around this land that until then lay empty and unploughed has never materialized.

The soil is now ready and Ismael has planted the few seeds that he has. But without the money he cannot afford to buy all he needs, and unless more seeds are sown soon, he could miss this year's harvest.

07:35 ISMAEL, FARMER, IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

"Before when we were camping we had each other, we had something. Now we have been left out on a limb. We have nothing. We have the land but not the infrastructure to touch it. (Question: And who's fault is that?) It is the government's fault. INCRA and the government."

07:53 The MST are doing what they can to alleviate this problem, implementing a seeding programme using the plants of farms that are now producing successfully. But it is merely a drop in the ocean.

08:04 SERGIO FARIAS OLIVEIRA, MST MEMBER-SPOKESMAN, IN PORTUGUESE WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

"We have to help the Brazilian people. We are living a life of desperation, of misery. We need to change this situation. We need to distribute the wealth of the Brazilian people. This is something that is not done in this country. The profit is substantial but is for very few. Poverty is for more, and misery is for many. We need to change this relationship. And that requires a lot of work."

08:31 Government ministers are unwilling to take part in interviews concerning the MST. Landowners too have proved to be elusive. But whatever the rights and wrongs, the fact remains that this country's cities are increasingly unable to cope with soaring populations, while in the interior, thousands upon thousands of hectares lie untouched.

And so they sit, and they wait.

In Dorcelina Folador the men and women speak of staying for as long as it takes. Most, if not all, have nothing to return to. And they insist that they are fighting for nothing more than what is their right - the right to work.

09:14 ENDS

Producer / Cameraman – David Notman-Watt