New Brazil Bulletin #12

The Struggle for Land

On April 4, indigenous people of Southern Bahia shut down a highway in protest for land demarcation and the release of their political prisoners. During the protest, gunmen hired by the latifundium attacked an indigenous land, shooting a man in the process.

On the same day, thousands of indigenous demonstrators marched towards Brazil’s National Congress, demanding indigenous land demarcation. They faced severe police repression, being shot at by tear gas.

On April 10, over 400 peasant families organized with the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) occupied 1,700 hectares (4,200 acres) of land, demanding land reform.

In the same day, the indigenous Kapinawa people successfully suspended the auction of a portion of their land after weeks of protest and mobilization. The auction intended on selling the land to wind energy companies.

On April 11, Rondônia military police in service of the latifundium initiated a reactionary offensive against the San Francisco camp, organized by the League of Poor Peasants (LCP) arresting at least 26 people.

On the same day, the Fazenda Malhada occupation was attacked by gunmen, who beat, tortured, and threatened peasants.

On April 15, the Bananal indigenous land was attacked by military police, with the indigenous people successfully repelling them with sticks and work tools. The land chief claimed that this attack occurred because a meeting regarding land demarcation would be held the next day.

Workers’ and Peoples’ Struggle

On April 4, a hundreds-strong rally was held in Rio de Janeiro, remembering those killed by Brazil’s 1964 fascist military regime. Demonstrators also denounced the January 8, 2023 Brasília riots carried out by Bolsonaro supporters, an event that parallels Trump’s January 6 riots.

On the same day, a protest was held, calling for decent housing in Mauazinho after a growing landslide had swallowed four homes in the neighborhood, which the old State has neglected.

On April 6, residents of the city of Cachoeirinha protested against the city government’s inaction regarding flood prevention. In May 2024, the state of Rio Grande do Sul was hit by severe flooding that resulted in over 200 deaths and deepening the impoverishment millions of people. The State has been notoriously inadequate at providing reparations for those hit by the floods.

On April 9, app drivers (Uber, Lyft, etc) across Brazil held a meeting and set forth the plans for an upcoming national strike following the massive March 31 strike. A date has yet to be determined.

On April 10, Recife teachers initiated a strike in response to unsatisfactory city government proposals regarding salary adjustment.

On April 15, Rondônia healthcare workers protested against the State government’s attempt to hire a private company to manage personnel, which is part of a greater State effort to privatize the healthcare industry and worsen the conditions of healthcare workers. On April 16, the State government ignored the protest and carried out their plan of privatizing personnel management.

The Rondônia teachers’ strike, initiated on February 21, is ongoing. Their main demands are readjustment of food aid, extra pay for rural educational workers and overtime workers, and criticism of “New Brazilian Secondary Education,” a reactionary policy that has led to an increased workload and an increased rate of dropouts.

Student Struggle

On April 2, over 300 students of the Machado de Assis State School protested against the release of a teacher arrested for sexual harassment against women, continuing their demonstration in spite of the military police’s attempt to disperse it.

On April 4, students for the second time successfully mobilized against a far-right attempt to invade the University of Brasília (UnB), leading to the invaders canceling their plans. The mobilization was firmly internationalist, with Palestinian flags being waved, chanting “fascists out from UnB!”

On April 11, students at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro initiated their campaign to get the university restaurant workers—who have had their wages withheld—paid.

Brazil’s National Situation

On April 6, far-right ex-president Bolsonaro held a mobilization that drew in a quarter of the number of people that attended his 2024 mobilization at the same location. A Nova Democracia (AND), Brazil’s revolutionary newspaper, says that this decreased turnout indicates that Bolsonaro’s support has dropped, but not disappeared, due to him now sitting on a defensive platform against opportunist and false-left President Luiz Inácio, compared to his victorious platform in the 2018 election.

On April 16, the old State admitted that it will have insufficient funds for the Heath and Education budget by 2027. AND says that this deficit is due to government policy, listing “the fiscal framework, the maintenance of parliamentary amendments, the failure to review taxation in the country and the failure to review the public debt and the precarious payment policy, which mainly benefits big billionaires” as examples. AND pointed out how the amount that the old State pays billionaires in terms of repaying debts is growing, and the amount that they tax them is shrinking, with the old State spending $1.9 trillion Real ($327 billion) on debt repayments in 2024.

Brazil’s rare Earth minerals, of which it it is second only to the U.S. in its reserves, are highly sought after and plundered by the imperialist countries, with the U.S. and China vying for it in the midst of trade war sanctions. On April 4, China halted their export of six rare Earth minerals, leading to further U.S. imperialist desperation for Brazil’s minerals. AND ties Brazil’s wealth of rare minerals to the democratic revolution, stating that these massive reserves should not benefit foreign exploiters but rather the country as a whole and for that to happen it is necessary to establish a popular, national, and democratic government.

Image: The Gedeon José Duque Revolutionary Area. The banner reads: “We won’t leave our land! The risk the stick runs, runs the axe!,” i.e. if you think of attacking, think of being attacked too. Credit: Resistencia Camponesa.

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