The Struggle for Land
On February 10, peasants of Barro Branco mobilized and drove the Federal police from the school building the police had occupied. The police withdrew after months of peasants denouncing the Federal police presence in the school and their passive support for the Invasion Zero gunmen of the big feudal landlords.The Federal police had occupied the school since they fled there during the Battle of Barro Branco September 28 of last year. The Federal Police claim their presence in the community is to maintain peace during the “agrarian conflict” between the peasants, organized by the LCP, and the Mata Sul company. Their method for doing this is colluding with the latifundium (the big landlords) and harassing the peasantry.
In the same day, supporters of A Nova Democracia (AND), the popular and democratic newspaper, handed out 400 pamphlets propagating the Agrarian Revolution in the city of São Lourenço.
On February 15, students visited the Teko-Haw village in order to understand their situation regarding the struggle for land. In order to not fulfill the basic rights of indigenous people, the old-State claims that there are none living there, but the activists found over 100 Guajajara people there. This lack of government land demarcation results in dire conditions for the residents, lacking necessities like consistent electricity and water supply. This visit culminated in the formation of the Teko-Haw Support Committee in order to publicize the village’s struggle for land.
On February 17, the League of Poor Peasants (LCP) of North Minas and South Bahia released a statement calling for the punishment of the murderers of Cleomar Rodrigues, a peasant leader organized with the LCP who was shot and killed in 2014 on behalf of landowners in Pedras de Maria da Cruz and Norte de Minas Gerais in response to the growing struggle for land. A portion of the statement reads: “All the police investigations and ‘justice’ movements surrounding the comrade’s murder are just a cover for the land-grabbing landowners, who do what they want with their armed gangs and guarantee impunity by interfering directly in the organs of power of the old-State. They just want to guarantee a way to cover the mouths of public opinion in the face of the people’s commotion generated by the murder, and continue committing their crimes.” The old-state’s trial for the two alleged murderers was initiated on February 19.
Workers’ and People’s Struggle
On February 12, 4,000 outsourced educational workers in Belo Horizonte held an assembly where they decided to initiate a strike on February 24 if their demand for an 18% pay raise is not responded to by city council and the company employing them.
On February 13, workers for the Electricity Company of the city of Salvador, Neoenergia Coelba, held a demonstration against mass layoffs, harassment, and the company’s attempts to deny workers’ rights, such as the law where workers can get off extended holidays and extra pay for working during the Brazilian Carnival. On February 17, workers at Dinamo, a company that provides electricity to Neoenergia Coelba, went on strike in several regions primarily to claim their overdue payment for working three holidays.
On February 14, a protest was held against the 6×1 scale—a constitutionally-set work week of 44 hours within 6 days—in Londrina. The day before, over 200 pamphlets were handed out to workers in Londrina inviting them to the protest.
On February 16, demonstrations were held against the 6×1 scale in Caxias do Sul, Brasília, and Curitiba. In the same day, students handed out flyers against the 6×1 scale in a Brasília subway.
Student Struggle
From January 13 to 18, students at the Matinhos campus of the Federal University of Paraná occupied the kitchen’s scullery, demanding the immediate re-opening of the university restaurant and continuation of student food aid after both were halted due to the university’s contract with the private restaurant company expiring. On February 2, the university bureaucracy scheduled a reopening date for the restaurant. Regarding this, the students stated: “We consider the achievement of extending the aid and the announcement of the date for the opening of the University Restaurant to be a victory. Yes, the occupation was important. However, we know that it is still far from ideal. We’ve made it clear to the prorector and the management that if the deadlines and promises aren’t met, we will occupy again.”
On February 16, the People’s Revolutionary Student Movement (MEPR) published a statement against the National Union of Students (UNE)’s 16th National Council, in which they accuse the Union of being sell-out reformists due to its lack of criticism of the old-State’s attacks on public education and its adoption of the “broad front” policies of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Brazil’s National Situation
After AND’s YouTube channel was shut down on January 15 for their coverage of the Palestinian national resistance, they were successfully able to retrieve all journalistic material hosted on it by court order on February 19. This victory comes after an international solidarity campaign carried out by revolutionaries and anti-imperialists such as The Palestine Chronicle and The Red Herald. They have a new YouTube channel that can be accessed here.
The trend of inflation in Brazil is further displayed as more inflation statistics are released, with food prices in Rio Grande do Sul increasing by 11.1% over 2024. In Porto Alegre the metropolitan bus fares increased by 14.21% over February. On February 18, the National Land Transportation Agency increased the price of bus tickets by 2.9% in the Federal District and surrounding region.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s popular support is still on the decline, with two new surveys releasing on February 14 and 15 that suggest that his approval rating is the worst it has ever been during his ten years as president, with 32% of respondents that voted for him in 2022 and 62% of respondents overall saying that he should not be re-elected.
Regarding this matter, Victor Bellizia, the director general and editor-in-chief of AND, said that “It would be foolish to try to find answers to this drop in popularity by comparing it to the Bolsonaro government, because the 11 percentage point drop [of respondents who consider the Brazilian government excellent or good—from 35% to 24%] is in a segment more linked to the defense of democratic rights that had voted for Luiz Inácio in 2022.”
Additionally, the AND Editorial Board writes that the drop in support of the government and government institutions is indicative of a deep general crisis of the old-State. Their editorial reads: “There is no other reason for the deep and very serious general crisis of the decomposition of the old-State: those at the bottom do not accept to live as before, and for a long time, those at the top cannot continue to govern as they have for a long time.”
image: An A Nova Democracia activist carrying out agitation in São Lourenço. The banner reads: “Long live the Agrarian Revolution”. Credit: A Nova Democracia
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