A experiência do movimento dos trabalhadores sem-terra e o governo Lula
| Autor | Leandro Vergara-Camus |
| Páginas | 1-29 |
R E V I S T A I N T E R N A C I O N A L I N T E R D I S C I P L I N A R I N T E R T H E S I S - PPGICH UFSC
THE EXPERIENCE OF THE LANDLESS WORKERS MOVEMENT AND THE LULA
GOVERNMENT
A EXPERIÊNCIA DO MOVIMENTO DOS TRABALHADORES SEM-TERRA E O
GOVERNO LULA.
Leandro Vergara-Camus
Abstract:
Based on fieldwork carried out in Southern Brazil, this article analyses the achievements,
difficulties and contradictions of the MST’s alternative project. It identifies the
organizational structure of the MST as a major factor explaining the success of the
movement. It highlights that mobilization and pressure on the state have also been
instrumental to land distribution and the development of its settlements. It thus looks at the
strategy that the MST had adopted towards participation in institutional politics and its
alliance with the Workers Party in Southern Brazil and argues that this strategy and
alliance will most likely change because of President Lula’s cabinet composition and policy
orientation.
Keywords: MST, land concentration, struggle for land, camps, settlements, organizational
structure, mobilization, state, institutional politics, PT, Lula government
Resumo:
Baseado no trabalho de campo realizado no Sul do Brasil, este artigo analisa as
realizações, dificuldades e contradições do projeto alternativo do Movimento Sem-Terra
(MST). Identifica a estrutura organizacional do MST como a grande responsável pelo
sucesso do movimento. Destaca a mobilização e as pressões sobre o Estado têm sido
também meios úteis para a distribuição de terra e do desenvolvimento dos
assentamentos. Observa a estratégia que o MST tinha adotado em relação à participação
na política institucional e sua aliança com o Partido dos Trabalhadores (PT) no Sul do
Brasil, e questiona que esta estratégia e aliança mudarão, provavelmente, por causa da
composição do gabinete e da orientação política do Presidente Lula.
Palavras-chave: MST, concentração de terra, luta pela terra, assentamentos,
estrutura organizacional, mobilização, Estado, política institucional, PT, governo Lula.
PhD candidate. Department of Political Science, York University Toronto, Canada. E-mail:
leandro@yorku.ca. The author thanks Judith Adler Hellman, Lúcio Flávio Rodrigues de Almeida and Paula
Hevia Pacheco for their comments and suggestions. He also thanks the MST for its openess to research, and
the sem-terra for their enormous hospitality and for sharing their stories of struggle.
2
Resumen
Este artículo se basa en un trabajo de campo realizado en el sur de Brasil y analiza los
logros, las dificultades y las contradicciones del proyecto alternativo del MST. Se identifica
la estructura organizativa del MST como el factor principal que explica el éxito del
movimiento. Se subraya que la mobilización y la presión sobre el Estado por parte del
MST han hecho posible la distribución de tierra y el desarrollo de los asentamientos. Por
ende, el artículo se enfoca en la estrategia que el MST ha adoptado en cuanto a su
participación en la política institucional y su alianza con el Partido de los Trabajadores en
el sur de Brasil y argumenta que esta estrategia y alianza muy probablemente cambiarán
debido a la composición del gabinete y de la orientación política del gobierno del
Presidente Lula.
Palabras clave: MST, concentración de tierra, lucha por la tierra, campamentos,
asentamientos, estructura organizativa, mobilización, Estado, política institucional, PT,
gobierno Lula
Introduction
This year, the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (Landless Workers’
Movement, MST) is celebrating 20 years of existence. In these 20 years, 221 571 families
have gained access to land and a decent standard of living through participation in the
movement. Currently, there are 112 656 families in 629 MST camps throughout Brazil
(Carvalho, 2003: 8) preparing to occupy land which the state has the constitutional
responsibility of distributing. Throughout these years, the MST has not only organized the
struggle for land but has also taken on numerous tasks that go from child and adult
education, to provision of basic health care, to training educators, agronomists,
administrator of co-operatives and health care provider. Because of its results, its
organizational strength and its activism in Brazilian politics, the MST is probably one of the
most important and successful peasant movements in Latin America.
This article will present some of the findings of my three months fieldwork in
Southern Brazil in 2003, where I visited MST camps and settlements1. I will look at
different aspects of the struggle of landless families organized in the MST, from the
1 The MST’s struggle for land has two stages. First, landless families temporary live and prepare themselves
for land occupation in camps (acampamentos) on the fringes of federal roads nearby latifundios subject to
expropriation. Second, once these families win the land they occupied, they establish a permanent settlement
(assentamento), divided in family or common lots, common area and buildings (school, health care clinic, co-
operative, etc.). The people involved in land occupations are referred to as acampados and acampadas while
settlers are referred to as assentados and assentadas.
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