Juliana Cézar
Special envoy

Goiânia – Approximately 11 thousand people initiated this morning, in Goiânia, in the state of Goiás, the National March for Agrarian Reform. Members of the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST), of Via Campesina, and of other social movements left the Serra Dourada Stadium, by foot, towards highway BR 060, which connects Goiânia to Brasília. The goal is to arrive in Brasília (200 km) until the 17th. At the arrival, there will be an event at the Ministries Esplanade.

According to Valter Misnerovizz, of the MST national direction, which is heading the mobilization, the "rhythm of Lula’s government agrarian reform is very slow, and does not satisfy social movements." With the march, the movement intends to press the government to speed up families’ settlement.

Rural workers want to hand a letter to President Lula demanding the achievement of the goal to settle 430 thousand families until the end of his mandate, to invest on family agriculture, and to reduce rural violence. In this first day, they will walk 16.5 km.

Translation: Andréa Alves