[published on March 15 in Brasil De Fato]

In recent days, the so-called ‘grand press’ has devoted a lot of space to the MST, but, as usual, in order to attack us. Irate editorials, big headlines, provocative photos, and stories exaggerated to create a climate of war in the countryside.

But, in the end, what actually happened?

During Carnaval week three plantations were occupied. Since January, such occupations had taken place every week in various locations here and there, some even carried out by local organizations or other groups not affiliated with the MST. So, three new occupations in a week was certainly no reason to raise a ‘national security alarm’!

What else happened: demonstrations at two INCRA locations, in Cuiaba and Goiânia. In both cases the demonstrations were coordinated with the institution’s employees. In Cuiaba, the episode was ridiculous: the MST placed itself in front of the INCRA office to prevent a dissident group called the MTA (settlement movement created by real estate interests) from storming the building and making off with expropriation case files. In the confrontation, members of the MTA broke some of the office’s windows. In Goiânia, the peaceful demonstration, with the support of INCRA’s own workers, was there to ask – gasp! – that the government appoint a superintendent, because for three months the MST had had no one with whom to negotiate.

That’s exactly what happened.

Now, any citizen who has read the papers or checked the internet is left with the idea that the MST has declared war on Lula’s government and demanded in turn that agrarian reform take place in a single day.

This manipulation, directed so often by the ‘grand press’ against social movements, has been the subject of numerous master’s and doctoral theses in journalism – now, the editors might well be the subject of psychology theses.

But, what this is all about remains unsaid. It’s about class struggle. Political struggle.

The Brazilian elite can’t accept October’s election defeat. They know that the people voted against their neoliberal model. They know that people voted for agrarian reform. They know that the landless voted for Lula. They know that Lula has made a commitment to land reform.

But they won’t give up. They continue to work to make sure the election result does not materialize in the government. They are using their main weapon in the ideological struggle, the media, to prevent the social movements from advancing, to depict all social struggle as being against Lula’s government, when actually this government is the product of twenty years of the Brazilian people’s struggle.

They want to create an image of false radicalism. They want to isolate the social movements and the Left in the government.

This is the real reason behind the uncontrollable anger of these ruling-class gentlemen that don’t want to lose even a crumb of what they have.

But social problems are not resolved with fascist editorials. Social problems are resolved with concrete results in people’s lives.

We have said, loud and clear, that our enemy is the old estate system and the neoliberal model. And we will fight with all our strength.

We say that we are partners of the people’s government, maintaining our autonomy.

But they want to isolate the government from the movements, to weaken and dominate it. And they want to isolate the movements from the government to prevent any real social achievement that would represent a loss of privilege to the Brazilian upper class.

The war is not in the countryside – the war is being waged on the Central Plateau!

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