27.04.2009
Military Police arrests 18 leaders of social movements in the State of Para

Since Friday 24/04, around 400 members of Via Campesina (MAB, MST, CPT, fishermen movement) had been camped in the worksite of the locks of the Tucuruí dam. On April 26, police invaded the camp and arrested 18 people. Workers have been protesting against violence in rural areas and demand progress in the negotiations with the federal and state governments. The demands of workers from the region have been submitted to authorities since the end of last year.

According to our information, military police was ordered to search the camp. They arrived at six in the morning and arrested 18 people, amongst them Maria Edina Ferreira, Aildo Ferreira da Silva, Roquevan Alves Silva, Odercio Monteiro, Eusino Rodrigues Lopes and Vanico Wanzeller. The farmers were brought to the State Capital Belém to the Intelligence Department of the Specialized Civil Police.

Protestors were demanding a meeting with governmental authorities which was arranged for the following Tuesday, April 28. The negotiation and possible agreement would benefit more than 900 local families with resources for faming and aquacultures and infrastructure projects.

The hydroelectric plant of Tucuruí was constructed almost 25 years ago during the military regime and until today the people displaced and affected by it have been demanding the respect of their rights and projects for the improvement of living conditions in the municipalities and communities which lost their land and forests. “Once again the solution for the companies and the State is Police”, according to leaders of communities and movements. According to the Land Pastoral Commission - CPT, during the last three years, 14 local leaders have been assassinated in the struggle for land rights. The latest victim Raimundo Nonato, leader of the Tucuruí Syndicate, was brutally assassinated in his doorstep on the 16^th of April.

CPT – MST – MAB - FETAGRI – STR/Tucuruí – Colônia Pescadores Z32 –
MOVIMENTO PESCADORES E MORADORES APA TUCURUÍ – ASSOCIAÇÕES