The dirty trick [of the agrarian reform] is so badly done that there are blatant differences between the numbers presented by the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) and the bureau of the Incra. Just last year the MDA raised its annual balance by 14% over the numbers presented by the state Incras. In Espirito Santo alone the increase was 67% and in Sergipe it was 68%.
In 2000 the cover-up was even larger, reaching the rate of 48% of the total presented by the MDA. While the Ministry boasted that it had settled 108,986 families, the Institute of Applied Economic Research (Ipea) established that only 36,061 families were settled. If we believe it is true that the Land Bank program settled another 20,000 families -- a "truth" that would not resist a serious investigative inquiry of a large newspaper -- the total of settled families would rise to 56,061. There would still lack 52,925 families to reach the numbers assumed by Jungmann [the ex-head of the Ministry].
Landless families who had signed up through the post office to become the beneficiaries of the Agrarian Reform never received land, but their names served to falsely inflate the number of settled families.
Such a degree of lying and incompetence to construct a fictitious reality would not be sustainable without the complacency of the of the country's major means of communication. During the entire FHC presidency the media comported itself as if it was a government agency.
Subservient, the media simply reproduced the discourses of the government and gave no space to those who would contradict their version. Greedy for funding, the capitalist media gave unconditional support to the FHC government. It was like this with all cases of corruption -- and they were not few -- which occurred in this government, such as the programs of privatization, the dismantling of public services, the increase of social exclusion, and the rising impoverishment of the population.
In accordance with the jurist Fabio Konder Comparato, a government should appear before a popular jury to be made responsible for its performance. FHC's government is aware of its own poor performance. It is not without a purpose that it searches, at all costs, to create mechanisms such as the senator-for-life post for ex-Presidents, or that ex-Senators can only be judged by the Federal Supreme Court, guaranteeing them impunity even when they leave government. They must be frightened by the persecution of the ex-Presidents of Venezuela (Carlos Andres Perez) and of Argentina (Carlos Menem) or with the flight of two ex-Presidents Carlos Salinas (Mexico) and Alberto Fujimori (Peru). These rulers were all presented by international capital as being the great governors of Latin America who would implement neoliberal policies.
Knowing the importance of the media, Jungmann did not save financial resources to divulge the true nature of his Agrarian Reform. Only last year the government spending on propaganda increased 31%, reaching R$ 8.63 million. Already in 2000, compared to the previous year, the increase was 66%. The larger the lie, the larger the effort to make it appear as truth.
The elected officials of the opposition, after the denounces made by the Folha de Sao Paulo, are taking steps towards holding the ex-Minister Jungmann judicially responsible, demanding that the public funds used to produce the deceptive propaganda be returned.
This is a beginning. But these measures must also be extended to include the responsibility of the President of the Republic. He was always made aware of the lies of his ministry, but he never took any measures to change this. Jungmann at most had the power to alter the papers of the Prince as if he was a court jester.
Briefs
MST Representative Returns to Brazil
Mario Lill, a MST militant who was in Arafat's compound in Ramallah since March 31, returned to Brazil on April 24. In addition to Mario Lill and Paul Nicholson, of the Via Campesina, 4 French activists also left the building at that time. Another 12 pacifists from various countries had entered the building in solidarity. Mario Lill emphasized that the objective of the group that vacated the building where Arafat was confined was to search for non-violent solutions in the region.
Hearing between the MST and the MDA will be next week
The MST is planning an audience with Jose Abraao, the Minister of Agrarian Development, for the following week. The guidelines of the meeting will include the discussion of the immediate settlement of 100 thousand camped families, food assistance for these families, the increase of the Incra's inspection infrastructure and the renegociation of the debts of Procera and Pronaf.
Eldorado dos Carajas: Judge Distances Herself from the Case, But the Date of the Trail is Maintained
Judge Eva do Amaral Coelho distanced herself from the El Dorado dos Carajas case on May 9th. In spite of the Judge's distance, the dates of the case continue to be maintained by the TJE for the 14th and 27th of May and the 10th of June. Roberto Moura, the auxiliary Judge for the case, will preside over the trial. Climentie Pontes, the President of the TJE, has stated that Roberto Moura has all the capacities to assume the charge, as he has already taken part in the trial. On April 17th, 1996, 19 landless rural workers were brutally assassinated by military police during a mobilization that took place on a road in El Dorado dos Carajas. Until today the guilty have not been punished. To learn more about the case, access our web page at: www.mst.org.br/setores/dhumanos/eldorado/ eldoraindic.html.