Against capital and patriarchy, MST women hold day of struggle and occupy Suzano-owned eucalyptus plantations in Brazil

From WRM

WRM expresses its solidarity with the struggle of women from the Rural Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Brazil. On this day, March 13, they are taking various actions across the country in favor of agrarian reform and against the multiple forms of violence perpetrated against women, under the slogan “Agribusiness means violence and environmental crimes. The struggle of women is against capital”.

One of the actions is taking place in the state of Espírito Santo, where 1000 women have occupied an area belonging to Suzano. For years this corporation has gone about its business with impunity, concentrating land tenure and committing violations against indigenous, quilombola and landless peasant communities. Suzano is the largest exporter of pulp for paper production in Europe, the USA and Asia. The occupation is an act of resistance against a model that privileges profits to the detriment of life and social justice.

Read below the statement produced by the Espírito Santo state section of the MST:
This morning (March 13), about 1000 Landless women occupied an area of the Suzano corporation in the municipality of Aracruz, Espírito Santo state (ES). By means of the Landless Women’s Day of Struggle, our comrades are pointing to a People’s Agrarian Reform as the path for tackling hunger, violence in the countryside and the environmental crisis.

The MST denounces Suzano’s criminal practices and announces that for social and environmental justice to be done in both rural and urban areas there has to be more Agrarian Reform to settle those families that wish to grow food rather than produce commodities. In Espirito Santo state and throughout Brazil there are 22 areas of conflict with Suzano, where negotiations have not made any progress at all.

“Multinationals are not worried about obtaining land in order to solve the problem of hunger in the country. On the contrary, they benefit from the practice of land-grabbing and laundering schemes to keep their profits high. An example of this is Suzano, a paper and pulp company that wants to double the monoculture plantation of eucalyptus, but we know very well that this does not solve the problem of food prices and, furthermore, worsens a whole range of environmental problems”, stresses Lia Fernandes from the MST National Leadership.

Suzano holds 2.7 million hectares of land in Brazil, of which 1 million meant for “conservation” and 1.4 million for eucalyptus monoculture plantation, where it would be possible to settle more than 100,000 families. Many of the corporation’s plantations are on “grabbed” land, with illegally obtained land titles

The occupation in the midst of a eucalyptus plantation was marked by the use of colorful fabrics symbolizing the daring, rebellious and combative character of Landless women. This is an insurgent force that powers forward with raised fists and hoes in defense of the People’s Agrarian Reform, a synonym of an end to hunger and a path toward dealing with the environmental crisis and with violence in the rural areas. These are the Aromas of March that Landless women carry every day while cultivating lands and affections, and tearing down the fences of mega-estates and of the patriarchal and racist powers that be.