The National Directorate of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) issues this statement to repudiate the assault suffered by the member of the national coordination of MST, João Pedro Stédile, at the airport of the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, this Thursday (September 22, 2015) evening. [Ed. video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iItYSw8QNk]
For the MST this is not an isolated event, it reflects the current political moment that Brazil is going through, in which the hatred against the popular movements, immigrants and the poor black population is growing. This hatred is shown recent events in Rio de Janeiro, where the marginalized youth from favelas are being prevented, at risk of assault, from going to the beaches of the south part of the city.
These acts of violence and hatred spread over the social media, and reverberates increasingly on the streets. It is another demonstration of the brutality of Brazilian elite sectors willing to promote a wave of violence and hatred against the people.
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Various organizations express solidarity with Stedile after he suffered insults in Fortaleza
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Nevertheless, in another recent event of hatred against Stédile - when a wanted: dead or alive poster was released at the social media - we already alerted that the dimension of this events has its origins, above all, in a manipulative media that distorts information, at the same time that promotes hatred and prejudice against those who think differently.
This media, at the service of a mad and fascist right, is responsible for generating this kind of criminal and hateful minds, feeding the streets and social media with anti-social end inhumane values.
However, these attitudes are not capable of keeping us from the struggle for land reform and the social rights that were historically denied to the Brazilian people. We won't accept that any participant of the popular movements suffers any kind of assault or insult for defending and fighting for social justice.
We commit to remain in the streets fighting in defense of democracy, the civil rights, the working class and the respect for human values.
“Dare to fight, dare to win!”
Lutar, Construir Reforma Agrária Popular!
(Struggle, build Popular Agrarian Reform!)
São Paulo, September 23, 2015
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Stédile’s response to the insult in Fortaleza and more notes of solidarity.
