Peasants of Várzea Grande protesting against state sanctioned intimidation

On the 27th of August, peasants of the LCP Northeast took back the land of the Várzea Grande farm in Rio Largo in Brazil's eastern province of Alagoas. In the four months since they have moved, they are faced with constant harassment by the agents of the big landowners and the state. In the face of all intimidation however, the peasants of Várzea Grande last week blocked the mayor highway close by in order to denounce the methods used against them.

Many attempts have been made to frighten away the poor peasants that struggle for their existence and the agrarian revolution in Rio Largo. After the masses first were "visited" by some hooded thugs, gunman opened up fire on them. The police, at first unwilling to even record this incident, only did so because the peasants insisted upon it. Later there has been further confrontation with the police, when thugs of the military police arbitrarily attacked and beaten up peasants. Now the reaction even went so far as to erect a "military training site" in the direct neighborhood to the encampment. On the 8th and 9th of October, they send 800 goons from the Special Operations Police Battalion there to “train” with bombs and live ammunition, sending a pretty obvious message to the peasants. The latter however are not to be intimidated however. Full of rage against these methods applied against them, they took over the BR 101 last week, building a barricade of burning tires, and held the highway for hours to make they position heard.