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The Eldorado dos Carajás massacre took place on
the day of the
International Day of Rural Struggle – on April 17, 1996,
when 19 landless rural workers were assassinated by the
Military Police on the “S” Curve of Highway PA-150, and another 69 were injured.
Between 1996 and 2006 – 10 years since the Eldorado
dos Carajás massacre -, close to 170 landless workers were
assassinated in the state of Pará. In 1996 alone, 33 landless
workers were assassinated in the state.
Rural violence is a sad situation in Pará.
It has the largest numbers of cases of slave labor in
Brazil. In addition, it was here that ranch owners ordered the
assassination of missionary Dorothy Stang, in February of
2005. In spite of
the presence of the Army and the Federal Police in Anapu, the
city where the nun lived, rural workers still feel unsafe and
suffer from regular threats. The majority of large landowners
in the state have armed militias.
According to the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), in the
last 34 years in Pará, there were more than 770
assassinations of rural landless workers and people that
support them. In
only three cases there were trials to judge the authors of
these crimes.
10 years since the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre -
rural movements fight
against impunity
Evanize
Sydow[2]
The
year 2006 marks ten years since the Eldorado dos Carajás
massacre took place in Pará, in which 19 landless workers
were assassinated by Military Police on the “S” Curve of
Highway PA-150, and another 69 workers were injured.
The
Landless Workers’ Movement (MST), together with diverse
human rights organizations, organized protests throughout
Brazil to remember this day.
Protests against impunity were also carried out in
France and Italy. One
event took place where the massacre occurred, and Paulo
Vanucchi, Special Secretary for Human Rights, participated.
The
objective of the protests, besides remembering the workers,
was to denounce impunity in this case - not one of the 155
police officers who participated in the killing is in prison.
A report by the MST shows that of the 144 officers who
were incriminated, only two were sentenced.
Only Coronel Mário Collares Pantoja and Major José
Maria Pereira de Oliveira were sentenced to 228 and 158 years
of prison respectively. The
politicians who were responsible for giving orders to the
police– Governor Almir Gabriel and Secretary of Public
Security Paulo Sette Câmara were not charged.
Between 1996 and 2006 – 10 years since the Eldorado dos Carajás
massacre -, close to 170 landless workers were assassinated in
Pará, and in 1996 alone, 33 workers were assassinated in the
state. Rural violence is a sad situation in the state of Pará. The largest
numbers of cases of slave labor have been documented in that
state. In
addition, it was in Pará where that ranch owners ordered the
assassination of missionary Dorothy Stang, in February of
2005. In spite of the presence of the Army and the Federal
Police in Anapu, the city where Sister Dorothy lived, rural
workers still feel unsafe and suffer from regular threats. The
majority of large landowners in the state have armed militias.
According to the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), in the
last 34 years in Pará, there were more than 770
assassinations of landless workers and people who support them.
In only three cases there were trials to judge the authors of
these crimes.
The
Eldorado dos Carajás massacre took place on the International
Day of Rural Struggle – on April 17, 1996.
This is also a time to remember other events like the
Felisburgo massacre, which took place two years ago in Minas
Gerais, in which a group of armed gunmen, among them rancher Adriano
Chafik Luedy, invaded an encampment in the New Hope ranch,
which is located in the region of the Valley of Jequitinhonha,
and assassinated five landless workers.
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