The depreciation of the Brazilian currency against the dollar was perfectly suited for sectors interested in imposing their neoliberal societal project - Mauro Pimentel/AFP especially at the Brazilian impoverished neighborhoods we see that it is by combining struggle and sequins [used to adorn clothes common in people’s cultural manifestations] that these populations and groups survive One way of doing [progressive] politics is to pay attention to these groups – congadas samba jamming sessions – which are phenomena created by Black and impoverished populations and which have been there since slavery This survival doesn't happen without culture.” Assessing Brazil’s current political situation, Fabiana says the country is living under “market terrorism” “We can't help but notice how market terrorism has been going on repeatedly and in a dishonest way when the country has shown rates of inflation control falling poverty and an increase in employment rates who are very unhappy about the income tax issue is almost a way of artificially producing an overvaluation of food prices and this is a rebound effect of how the population will see this government,” she considered.  The journalist believes that the current government should more actively confront this narrative “This perception that things aren't going well has been called collective cognitive dissonance That's why I think communication is one of the fronts the government needs to look at Faced with this cognitive dissonance and the action of these market agents and communication is one of the possible tools,” she argued All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced provided it is not altered and proper credit is given All original content produced and editorially authored by Brasil de Fato may be reproduced O programa é o último da série especial de quatro edições sobre o educador no Prosa e Fato - Foto: Arquivo Instituto Paulo Freire Brazil marked the 60th anniversary of the coup that initiated the dictatorship period in the country Brasil de Fato published a series of unique articles on this era emphasizing the importance of remembering it in light of the rise of the far right Learn more about the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire Freire was one of the most important intellectuals attacked by the 1964 coup He was classified as an enemy of the Brazilian people and subversive a commonly used term to refer to leftist people or those with a social approach to their work Paulo Freire himself recalls in the same interview due to his concerns about developing a plan – an adult literacy program for the country – was arrested." In the second episode of the series “Futuro interrompido: as consequências da ditadura militar para o Nordeste” (Future interrupted: the consequences of the military dictatorship for the Northeast region), Brasil de Fato presents details of Paulo Freire's experience in developing a method of adult literacy which promised to eradicate illiteracy in the country and offer a new perspective for the region we will look at the project that the military adopted as a substitute for Freire's plans and the impact of the coup on Brazilian education To look closer at the consequences of the coup on Paulo Freire's ideas, we went to Angicos, a town with just over 11,000 residents in the semi-arid region of Rio Grande do Norte state. Despite its small size, the place became huge in 1963 and gained national prominence. It was there that Freire put into practice the so-called "40 hours of Angicos" experience an initiative to teach reading and writing to young people and adults from a people’s perspective.  my son?’ He replied ‘Because you studied with Paulo Freire and I wanted so much to see him to meet him.’ I said ‘There's a photo.’ Every day he comes in and says ‘Because you studied in Paulo Freire's classes Paulo Freire was invited by the then governor of Rio Grande do Norte to work on a method to teach adults to read and write He planned to develop a statewide initiative to help overcome illiteracy in the region Freire would test his new ideas in Angicos the government would adopt the method as state public policy.  The ideas that would make Angicos famous worldwide had already been tried out in Pernambuco state. In the 1950s, Freire was part of the People’s Culture Movement (MCP an action that brought together diverse intellectuals in Recife with a single goal: to raise people's awareness through culture and education intensifying a people’s literacy program The MCP gained momentum after Miguel Arraes' election as mayor of Recife in 1959 who led the government with a sensitive approach to people’s demands "Within the framework of the People’s Culture Movement he [Freire] began to develop a literacy method – later called a literacy system – with experiences in Recife’s mocambos in the flooded areas," explains professor Dimas Brasileiro.  he creates a circle of debate with these industrial workers who are experimenting with people’s education Freire realizes that this approach is much more effective both in the process of teaching and learning specific content of raising awareness of social issues," summarizes Dimas Paulo Freire arrived in Angicos in 1963, a year before the military coup professionals from various fields and people committed to the idea of people’s literacy.  The classes were innovative. They respected the local environment and the culture of the workers. Initially, the group carried out a kind of survey of the vocabulary of the local population. The aim was to identify the main subjects of workers' daily lives. Then, the group chose the so-called "generator words" the first words the students learned to read and write in the project.  the students also interpreted the reality in which they lived with topics that were part of the reality of people historically excluded The classes took place simultaneously in various places in the town from the Federal Rural University of the Semi-Arid (Ufersa "The culture circles took place at various places There was a group that used to meet at the police station another at José Rufino [School] and there was another one at Alto da Esperança That's why it ended up being designed to be applied throughout Brazil a plan later broken by the establishment of the military dictatorship in Brazil," concludes researcher Ana Aires The success of the project made João Goulart He visited Angicos to take a closer look at the project during the ceremony to mark the conclusion of the classes and was encouraged by the idea of implementing it in other states.   the government intended to launch the National Literacy Plan The expectation was that more than a million people would learn to read and write that year through more than 60,000 circles of culture.  Everything was canceled by the military dictatorship revealed a conversation between General Humberto Castelo Branco and journalist Calazans Fernandes the then Secretary of Education in Rio Grande do Norte about Paulo Freire's experience in Angicos Castelo Branco allegedly said: "Young man you're fattening rattlesnakes in these lands." Calazans Fernandes immediately replied: "It depends on which heel they bite The military's concern was that once literate workers would put in place rights they hadn't had before One of the main achievements would be the right to vote only granted to people who couldn't read in 1985 Freire's lessons guided the students towards awareness of labor rights The 40 hours in Angicos confronted the privileges of many large landowners in Northeast Brazil.  A few months after the experience in Angicos Paulo Freire became one of the regime's main enemies The atmosphere of conspiracy spread fear among students Rumors were disseminated that the classes were a communist experiment "They said they were going to send people to burn the notebooks and even arrest him [Freire] It was a huge revolution in the town," recalls former student Valdice about the mood that prevailed among the participants when news broke that Freire could be arrested by the dictatorship.  Família de Cícera vive com medo da casa cair após aparição de rachadura na parede - Pedro Stropasolas Why do I have to?” Arnaldo dos Santos asks summarizing the angst residents in the Bom Pastor neighborhood feel That’s one of the areas affected by Braskem’s crime in Maceió “I would like to ask Braskem why this side here has rotten and there it didn’t happen?” says Santos while pointing to the boarding Braskem put to demarcate the areas under risk of collapse The remaining houses in the Beco area are less than a meter from the boarding The neighborhood’s residents still wait to be relocated and receive financial compensation from Braskem through the Financial Compensation and Relocation Support Program (PCF in Portuguese) a demand to be addressed since Brasil de Fato's first visit to the community about seven months ago president of the Bom Parto’s residents Association the lack of income alternatives and the social vulnerability of the families living in the neighborhood increased during the first semester of 2024 while the reality of the families was only "brushed over" by the parliamentary commission of inquiry Some senators traveled to Maceió on May 8 “[It was] An on-site visit to get a sense of the situation," explains Fernando Lima "We still have almost 27,000 people in the neighborhood Houses are cracking so much so that the water table is almost at street level,” he adds Braskem's contested expansion of the risk map an elderly woman who shares around 30 square meters with her son the crack in the living room wall runs from the floor to the ceiling and is already down here," she points out Cícera says she would have left the property if she had been given the choice "I just want them to give us the right to have a small house somewhere else to live They were all included in the latest version of the Civil Defense Priority Action Lines Map The expansion of the map – which also comprehends families living on Marquês de Abrantes Street and the Farol neighborhood – included 1,200 properties in the Civil Defense monitoring area and was carried out only after a public civil action filed by the Federal Public Defender's Office the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the State of Alagoas The inclusion of these families in an area suitable for relocation was suspended by the Federal Regional Court of the 5th Region on January 22 this year at Braskem's request the process has been at a standstill in the courts "In the case of the Bom Parto neighborhood We have a case that has already been at the trial court and is currently at the appellate court without the slightest prospect that it can be resolved so that 15% of the neighborhood can be relocated," says Fernando Lima "We managed to get in touch with a private law firm where we are filing a lawsuit for relocation compensation and moral damages because through the official way – the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office – our lawsuit has stalled Asked by the parliamentary commission of inquiry (known in Brazil as CPI) investigating Braskem if Bom Parto’s residents will have to live for decades in cracked buildings that put people's lives at risk stressed that the families do not need to be relocated and that "these areas are regularly monitored by the municipal and national Civil Defense and by a Braskem technical team.” Arantes pointed out that requalification works are being implemented in the region and around BRL 1.7 billion (US$ 316,1 million) will be invested in socio-economic and urban measures But the Civil Defense is the agency responsible for demarcating areas for relocation and Braskem has always been diligent in complying with these determinations In the petition that supports the request to suspend the expansion of the risk map Braskem justifies that "for a series of anthropological a community should not be removed from its original home except in the absence of any other option.” When asked by the senators of the commission of inquiry why Braskem contested the inclusion of 1,200 properties belonging to families living in the Bom Parto region the mining company said the "damage to the properties associated with the subsidence phenomenon" is no longer a reason to relocate the families according to the most recent Civil Defense report it is necessary to have "soil movement was confirmed at the CPI by the testimony of Abelardo Pedro Nobre Júnior the general coordinator of Maceió's Civil Defense He confirmed that the properties on the banks of the Mundaú Lagoon that have cracks in the walls are being monitored according to the latest version of the map as it is a place that records "soil movement of 5mm to 10mm per year.” According to Júnior's statement what is not known is whether "these pathological manifestations correlate" with industrial activity at Braskem's mines which is why the area "needs to be studied.” Still about the cracks on the walls and floods in the region the representative of Maceió Civil Defense told the commission of inquiry that these issues were not related to the environmental disaster but to a "historical" problem families living in the surrounding areas of the Mundaú Lagoon face "The living conditions have always been difficult the conditions have become subhuman," he says according to families that live neighboring the Mundaú Lagoon became even more serious after the ground sank more than 2 meters in the area of mine Number 18 in December my brothers and my daughter," laments José Roberto dos Santos While Braskem and the Civil Defense give their justifications and propose monitoring and "studying" the region the families of Bom Parto are sick living in cracked houses susceptible to flooding "The population urgently needs to be relocated Bom Parto’s residents have had no peace Most of the elderly are sick," explains Paulo de Oliveira a resident of the neighborhood and one of the four garbage collectors working in the community There's a lack of security and sanitation The population also complains about the lack of janitorial services which should be Braskem’s responsibility Brasil de Fato saw debris from demolished houses open sewage and garbage piled up around evacuated areas Residents take it in turns to clean up the site You can show the people: there's germs here in this water Look around and you'll see what is happening here," laments Arnaldo dos Santos "The people at Bom Parto aren’t dogs I have two beautiful kids and I can't give my children anything else I used to earn BRL 200 (US$ 37) a day here," says Arnaldo whose income to support his two kids today is only what he earns from the Family Grant program (known in Brazil as Bolsa Família) the final report of the parliamentary commission of inquiry on Braskem held the company responsible for environmental crimes such as "ambitious mining" and indicted 11 people including the company's vice president The text by Senator Rogério Carvalho (Workers’ Party) also calls for the restructuring of the Civil Defense risk map and the revision of compensation agreements for affected families also considering the risk of economic isolation in areas such as Flexais Although the final report proposes the removal of Bom Parto’s residents and considers the CPI's outcomes a "milestone" the assessment of the Movement for Popular Sovereignty in Mining (MAM in Portuguese) is that there is still a long way ahead for the agreements to be fulfilled "When the parliamentarians came [to Maceió] They went to Flexais [one of the neighborhoods affected by Braskem] after a lot of pressure They walked through some streets and went into some houses And the situation in the Bom Parto neighborhood is a very precarious and dangerous one You see houses with crooked walls that can fall at any moment cracks from the floor going up to the wall The people have nowhere to go," explains Carlos Eduardo Lopes How long will it take for justice to be done for people to have their desire to relocate met?" he asks Residents see the absence of the parliamentary commission in Bom Parto and the failure to resolve the neighborhood's problems are seen as an act of class prejudice a real prejudice against the Bom Parto community because it's in poor social conditions That's what we think," Fernando Lima concludes Denise é uma das trabalhadoras do Roçado das Marias e se diz apaixonada por agricultura Not even the midday sun intimidated Denise Alves do Santos a hat and picked up a hoe to work the land in the sweltering heat cut down banana trees and expanded the pineapple plantation Faced with the effort made in the presence of the Brasil de Fato reporter took a deep breath and smiled: "I love agriculture I can't see myself in an office.” "This is an encampment with a 30-year history of fighting for land and we didn't have a project aimed at us That's when I heard about the idea of setting up a garden just for women," she explained :: 40 years of the MST: how the peasent movement was born in Paraná state :: The experience also changed the life of Paula Miguel a farmer who arrived at the encampment in 2018 She was unemployed and traveled to the encampment in Pernambuco to find a new perspective on her life alongside family members who were already in the region I didn't have a profession or anything to survive on in addition to doing what I like most," she celebrates The garden is carried out on plots in collective areas of MST encampments or settlements with the aim of strengthening autonomy and income generation for female farmers living in agrarian reform territories It was designed to overcome the structural logic that places males at the center of rural activities "We know that gardens are usually established by men’s initiative we thought: 'Why not have the Roçado das Marias The Roçado das Marias is also a mechanism for us to demand our rights not only as women but also as campers," explained Hanyelle Ohane the head of the gender sector at the Galileia regional office in Vitória de Santo Antão :: Women from the Landless Workers’ Movement hold a demonstration in front of Taurus arms company in São Paulo :: The initiative involves four other encampments in towns in southern Pernambuco state The territory is very close to the mill where the Peasant Leagues were founded in the state With the garden, the female workers are trying to diversify a landscape historically marked by sugarcane monoculture. In addition to planting, they also take part in training courses on agroecology and agroforestry systems They met in monthly assemblies, always held on the eighth day of each month. Collectively, they decide on a work schedule for the plot so that the activity doesn't overload any worker involved. They also share personal experiences and debate women's rights in society. The income they get working in the garden is applied to self-care or activities of their own choosing to supplement their household income "We work with our partners and have a nice little income We need to feel like fulfilled women," said Denise have a birthday for them or go out for a walk in the city because life isn't just in the countryside either We can also go for a walk to distract our minds from the routine we have," she concluded For now, the project's goal is to expand the training process for female workers and strengthen the marketing of their products at the main farmer's fairs in the region "We're thinking about the long term We're thinking of starting a cooperative in the future so that we can self-organize and take our GMO-free products to fairs," concluded Hanyelle Ohane é importante para a transformação social - Reprodução/Site Maestro Spok The 15 days leading up to the official beginning of Carnival are endless for Maestro Spok an instrumentalist and arranger who heads the Spok Frevo Orchestra He leads the party at various balls and Carnival previews welcoming local and national names from the popular music scene the musician's work requires physical vigor similar to that of an athlete dances the classic frevo steps and still has the energy to embrace the audience It all happens during performances that last two and a half hours He talked to Brasil de Fato after the Municipal Ball for the Elderly Spok's orchestra performed a repertoire that included classic Pernambuco frevo songs and compositions by Moraes Moreira Caetano and other icons of Brazilian popular music Frevo is celebrated on two days: February 9 and September 14 the Recife newspaper O Pequeno wrote the word "Frevo" for the first time the day became a milestone for this music genre Frevo became an Intangible Heritage of Brazilian Culture and Unesco’s Intangible Heritage of Humanity Spok is responsible for an important moment in Frevo adding a new musical style to the genre that is genuinely from Pernambuco He has already recorded three albums (Passo de Anjo Ninho de Vespa and Frevo Sanfonado) in over three decades of career He has worked with frevo icons such as José Menezes and has featured in shows with well-known MPB artists such as Gilberto Gil The maestro is enthusiastic about instrumental music and believes it should be taught to children from an early age at school. He argues that teaching Frevo and other music genres can be an important tool for social change Frevo had crucial importance in reducing difficulties Everything becomes less difficult [with Frevo]," the musician explained Frevo will become a systematic school subject This has already been done by many friends of mine who work with popular culture but it urgently needs to be in the school system." Spok is the founder of the Passo de Anjo Institute an organization that provides artistic training for children and teenagers in the town of Abreu e Lima He began studying music at 13 and says that he was already breathing in the atmosphere of Carnival “Vassourinhas", a Frevo song written in 1909 by Joana Batista Ramos and Matias Rocha was the one that sparked the teenager's interest in music He also remembers the constant presence of the big names of Frevo in Pernambuco Claudionor Germano and Expedito Baracho were always playing in my house We also listened to a lot of Luiz Gonzaga and many repentistas [Brazilian Northeastern singer-poets who improvise verses while playing the guitar].” those born in the Pernambuco state find it easier to grasp the technique and perform with the energy that the rhythm demands and that applies to Frevo," said the maestro "Any musician who plays their instrument well can play Frevo maybe he or she won't be able to thrill the audience because playing it is different you have to know the place [where you are playing] you have to know people's behavior," he says emphasizing that playing Frevo requires more than technique: you have to have sensitivity social experience and involvement with Pernambuco's general culture which talks so much about nostalgia and resistance in order to stay alive is renewing itself and finding good voices opening up new technical possibilities and breaking boundaries within the genre itself "If the Spok Frevo Orchestra's work is considered one that opens doors and windows to possibilities the new generation is opening everything up for good It's ‘taking the roof off’ for possibilities And it's good that there is this generation that makes sure that Frevo is in beautiful é uma das obras mais destacadas de Josué de Castro - Foto: Acervo Fundação Joaquim Nabuco-MiE “It wasn’t at the Sorbonne or any other wise university that I first knew about the phenomenon of hunger It was revealed to me spontaneously before my eyes in the miserable neighborhoods of the city of Recife: Afogados That was my Sorbonne: the mud of Recife's mangroves full of crabs and human beings.” That’s how doctor and geographer Josué de Castro, born in Pernambuco state, defines himself in the book “Of Men and Crabs” (1966). By looking at the unequal landscapes of Recife, he was able to understand the real causes of hunger a serious problem that affected the world's population in the middle of the 20th century and continues to do so to this day.  When the 1964 military coup happened Josué was chief ambassador to Geneva He was removed from the post and died in exile but internationally renowned for presenting an innovative look at one of the saddest problems in the world: hunger.  In the third episode of the series “Futuro interrompido: as consequências da ditadura militar para o Nordeste” (Future interrupted: the consequences of the military dictatorship for the Northeast region) Brasil de Fato recalls how the coup interrupted Josué de Castro's political rise and curbed for two decades many important ideas that are still guiding public policies to combat hunger.  what he defended in parliament and what the military did with all his work Josué made efforts to reveal concrete political and social causes of hunger Josué de Castro was born in 1908 in Recife the son of a sertanejo (someone from the Sertão region) who married an heiress to large sugar cane plantations he grew up surrounded by the mud of mangroves With a degree in medicine, Josué stood out for his work on nutrition in the 1930s and 1940s Then President Getúlio Vargas invited him to draw up a social survey Collected data was later used to ground the idea of the minimum wage policy implemented by Vargas "There was a lot of talk about hunger ‘There's hunger here and there,’ but nobody could see where it was That's what's so innovative about his work," says Marina Gusmão researcher and author of the book O combatente da fome: Josué de Castro: 1930-1973 (“The Hunger Fighter: Josué de Castro: 1930-1973” in a rough translation).  That's what people used to say," she adds The first time Josué de Castro pointed out hunger as a social problem was in a factory in Recife He had been hired to investigate the reasons for the supposed unproductivity of employees His response was surprising and caused a stir among industrialists "He did a study and concluded that it was impossible to increase workers’ productivity because they were suffering from hunger so he had no solution to the problem," says Marina Gusmão In 1946, Josué de Castro published The Geography of Hunger, a classic work and a reference for scholars on the causes of hunger worldwide. With this book, he literally put on the map the regions that were actually living in famine conditions. He then offered political solutions to the problem “‘The Geography of Hunger’ divides Brazil into geographical areas but according to criteria that he established in which he points out areas where there is acute hunger and so on," recalls Marina Gusmão In an interview for the documentary film Josué – um cidadão do mundo geographer Milton Santos recalls the innovative character of the Pernambuco thinker: "I believe that Josué plays two important roles: firstly to show the generality of the phenomenon of hunger and one of the most important hunger activists in Brazil highlighted the revolutionary nature of Josué's work: "The Geography of Hunger was a must-read book due to the topic he approached I think it was he who said that there is hunger in Brazil He was the one who gave hunger political and scientific status when he raised this issue." The Northeast Brazilian region that Josué studied was marked severe child malnutrition and low life expectancy Per capita income in the region was US$ 96 much lower than in the center-southern Brazil according to data cited by Vandeck Santiago in his book Pernambuco em chamas – a intervenção dos EUA e o golpe de 1964 from 30% of GDP in the 1930s to just 11% of the GDP in the 1950s From a health point of view, the level of malnutrition was extremely high. Children between the ages of five and ten had only 10% of the weight and height of those in the same age group in the United States Daily calorie intake was below the minimum conditions recommended at the time according to a survey carried out by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 1957 Only 4% of children were breastfed after six months of age according to data in the book The Revolution That Never Was "He says that the history of humanity is a history of hunger and goes on to show that hunger was always hidden People pretended the problem didn't exist It only came to light scandalously at the end of the Second World War when people in concentration camps were freed and the world saw them already in a catatonic state due to hunger," says Marina Gusmão "He worked on the progressive spectrum among those who understood that governments should act in favor of the most socially and economically excluded segments of society and those who are hungry," says political scientist Túlio Velho Barreto The coup silences Josué's ideas With the military coup of 1964, Josué de Castro became an enemy of the country. He was included on the list of first people to be persecuted, alongside President Jango and other authorities He lost his ambassadorial post and had his political rights revoked where he taught geography at the University of Vincennes he also traveled to various countries in Asia and Africa spreading his recent revolutionary thesis on hunger He remained abroad until his death in the 1970s "Josué de Castro's work was something that bothered the military the maintenance of status from the point of view of the elite and the dependence of the starving population on rulers," analyzes political scientist Túlio Velho Barreto Despite the silence imposed by the dictatorship, Josué de Castro continued to be studied by many researchers at universities, read by artists and adopted as a political reference for people’s movements, especially those fighting for agrarian reform In 2004, President Lula quoted Castro during the launching ceremony of the Food and Nutrition Security Council (CONSEA The event took place in Olinda (Pernambuco state) Lula pointed out that the geographer is a reference and that he dared to do what everyone else had neglected "A Brazilian like him should never have been punished but rewarded because he was concerned about something that the state should have been concerned about," he said the Mãos Solidárias Campaign organized by the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) created the Solidary People's Kitchens project The initiative is based on Josué de Castro’s ideas and provides weekly meals for food-insecure families in various areas of the Metropolitan Region of Recife is the coordinator of the Vila dos Milagres Solidarity Kitchen in Ibura She is in charge of preparing meals donated every week She describes the difficulties families face and the persistence of hunger despite the resumption of public policies in President Lula's third term Some people live almost in the mud: they don't have sanitation or a home," she denounces The Mãos Solidárias Campaign understands Josué de Castro's thesis on the causes of food insecurity and tries to denounce those who favor this environment of crisis hunger and helplessness for families living in impoverished areas "We see that hunger is not simply a lack of food, because there is food. If you go to supermarkets, production and agribusiness are increasingly making more profits of technology or production so that this food reaches people It's a political problem of social organization," explains Tomás Agra Mulheres agricultoras pilotam as máquinas chinesas no Rio Grande do Norte - Afonso Bezerra The use of Chinese machinery in the Northeast could have a positive impact on the work of female farmers That's is the assessment of the workers themselves who hope that the arrival of machinery will reduce working time and increase production do housework and also need to go to street fairs [to sell their products] This [the Chinese machinery] will optimize our time in farms because we also need to be at street fairs and attend the movement’s meetings to expose our production That’s Antônia Diana da Silva’s assessment She is a farmer who lives in the São Romão settlement “It’s a dream of family farmers to implement mechanization in their farms I'll clean four with the machine," she celebrates mentioning the big leap the equipment can make for family farming and agroecology We can use them in agroecological production to bring quality food with no pesticides to workers’ tables to the tables of the Brazilian population.” equipment manufactured by Chinese companies began operating on Brazilian soil during a demonstration in the town of Apodi The Minister for Agrarian Development and Family Farming Fátima Bezerra (Workers’ Party) as well as union leaders and people's movements The initiative is part of a partnership between Brazil and China sewn by people’s movements and Brazil’s Northeast Consortium The agreement started in 2022 when the Consortium signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the International Institute of Agricultural Equipment Innovation and Intelligent Agriculture of China Agricultural University The International Association for People’s Cooperation (Baobá) also signed the MOU “Our comrades from China have a commitment with us: they will help set up machine factories for family farming based on the equipment we think is important to us," said João Pedro Stédile from the national leadership of the Landless Workers' Movement (MST) “There is no successful policy without social movements The MST is the one that suggested and helped to make this partnership happen," Minister Paulo Teixeira explained during a press conference on the day of the event in Apodi mentioned the similarities between the realities of Brazil and China and praised the partnership between the two countries She was one of the main organizers of the partnership “Both Brazil and China are huge agricultural countries our partnership in the agribusiness sector has been growing and the two countries benefit from this commercial transaction Our agriculture sector exists thanks to small families like those here in the Northeast region.” the machines will undergo a trial period to assess how well they adapt to Brazilian reality a planter and a drone used for soil fertilization were presented at the event "The idea is to test these Chinese machines on our soil We're going to analyze the amount of fuel they consume whether it's harvesting rice or managing the land The idea is to see how efficient it is in the field so we can suggest adaptations," explained Maria da Saúde from the MST's production sector in Pernambuco state According to João Pedro Stédile the expectation is to advance in building factories in the northeastern states During his speech at the political event in Apodi Stédile criticized the concentration of the machinery market in Brazil and showed how this scenario is a major obstacle to peasant family farming There are no organic fertilizer factories in Brazil there are 1,200 organic fertilizer factories and they make fertilizer with organic matter with families’ and restaurants’ leftovers.  the goal is to build a rice harvester factory in Maranhão state with the possibility of serving the states of Pará and Tocantins; a factory in the Cariri region Ceará state; another in Rio Grande do Norte and a bio-input factory in Pernambuco state.  "Without a factory in the Northeast region We want these factories to come here to the Northeast so that we can expand the supply of mechanization at a fair price," explained Alexandre Lima Rio Grande do Norte's Secretary for Family Farming Ato em São Paulo reuniu milhares de pessoas em defesa dos direitos das mulheres - Caroline Oliveira/Brasil de Fato On International Women’s Struggle Day, March 8 They marched to denounce numerous cases of femicide and express solidarity with the Palestinian population—a community currently facing an ongoing genocide perpetrated by the Israeli government.  Thousands of people marched in the rain to defend women’s rights the most prominent were the defense of legalizing abortion the denunciation of police violence in São Paulo and solidarity with the Palestinian people The cry “no amnesty” also echoed strongly in the metropolis “Once again, women are on the streets to defend their sexual and reproductive rights, the legalization of abortion, denounce Governor of São Paulo's privatizations which has been happening in Baixada Santista the Palestinian genocide that mainly affects women and children and also ensure more funds for policies to combat violence against women," highlighted Luka Franca Secretary of State of the Unified Black Movement (MNU people concentrated on Treze de Maio Park in the city center Elisa Maria, a member of the Popular Brazil Movement in Pernambuco state, summarized their mission: “We prioritize the lives of all women. We engage in dialog about Brazil’s urgent issues. While we secured victories at the polls, we continue to confront Bolsonarism and a state ideology that privatizes our water and public services Women remain the most vulnerable victims of poverty and violence.”  In Brasília, approximately 300 women from the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) gathered in front of the Israeli embassy to denounce the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and call for an immediate ceasefire in the bombings targeting Gaza "We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people because we understand that we are united in the fight for land in addition to rural workers were expelled from the countryside for the expansion of agribusiness Our dignity gave way to millions of hectares of soybeans cotton and eucalyptus," said the movement in a statement The attacks in the Gaza Strip have persisted for five months triggered by an earlier assault by Hamas—the armed Palestinian group governing the region—on Israel on October 7 Israel has claimed the lives of at least 30,717 Palestinians and left another 72,156 injured The United Nations (UN) Women report that a staggering 85% of Gaza’s 2.2 million inhabitants have been forcibly displaced from their homes and continually pushed toward the border with Egypt—nearly a million of them being women.  around 200 women affiliated with the MST staged a demonstration outside the Conceito AMTT store which serves as a reseller of weapons and cartridges from companies Taurus and CBC Their protest spotlighted the alarming rise in femicide within the country and the troubling export of war materials to Israel.  1,463 women fell victim to femicide in Brazil according to the Brazilian Public Security Yearbook 2023 compiled by the Brazilian Public Security Forum (FBSP) and published on Thursday This figure represents a 1.6% increase compared to 2022 and stands as the highest number ever recorded since the law criminalizing femicide was enacted in March 2015.  The report also highlights that firearms remain the primary instrument used in femicide cases across Brazil a staggering 783,385 people were registered as Collectors and Hunters (CAC)—a sevenfold increase from 2018 ammunition production reached 420.5 million last year women affiliated with the MST took action by occupying three National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) headquarters This initiative is part of the National Struggle Journey of Landless Women Approximately 1,200 militants converged on the state agency’s offices in São Paulo rallying under the motto: “We will fight mobilizations on March 8 began near the Palace of the Lions the women participating in the demonstration faced obstruction by the Military Police filing a letter with the presiding judge of the state’s Court of Justice The letter emphasized the impacts of the Land Grabbing Law.  landless women organized a powerful mobilization They marched and occupied the state government’s headquarters in the city of Natal showing both resistance and a demand for the government to prioritize their movement’s agenda.  forests and cities went to the state Legislative Assembly to protest against violence and demand agrarian reform this March 8 On the same day, approximately 500 families associated with the MST seized control of the “Aroeiras” farm in Lagoa Santa (MG). Their action was driven by the land’s failure to fulfill its social function, as the abandoned property remained unproductive. The MST fervently called for the area’s allocation to agrarian reform.  over 500 rural workers participated in the Landless Women’s protest on Friday morning They marched in the municipality of Porecatu situated in the northern part of the state as part of the ongoing Journey of Struggles of the Landless Women.  provided it is not altered and proper credit is given.