Brasília, April 13, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Since the end of March, rural workers connected with the Landless Workers Movement (MST) have taken over nearly 50 estates around the country, around 20 of them in the state of Pernambuco and the rest in São Paulo and Bahia.

The International Day of Farmers' Struggle will be commemorated this Saturday (17). Rural workers from every state are organizing a march on the Esplanade of the Ministries, in the center of Brasília, to recall the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, in which 19 farmers were killed in the state of Pará, on April 17, 1996.

According to the MST's national coordinator, João Paulo Rodrigues, 120 thousand families are camped out all over Brazil. The workers are protesting the large quantity of big estates. They want these areas to be used to produce food and create jobs.

According to Rodrigues, some of the invaders are rural workers who, unable to find work in the peripheral zones of big cities, returned to the countryside. "In some states, such as São Paulo, the profile of the peasant has changed. Many have urban traits. Although they know how to handle plantations and cattle, they use other skills and habits they acquired in urban settings," he said.

Rodrigues also affirmed that the funds made available by the government for agrarian reform, nearly US$ 694 million (R$ 2 billion), are sufficient, but there must also be political determination to form partnerships with universities, establish credit lines, and provide technical assistance to farmers.

Translator: David Silberstein