The Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) from Para State denounced on September 6th the murder of a leader by an armed group hired by landowner Josue Bengstson, former Member of the House of Representatives for the right wing party Partido Laborista Brasileño.

Bengstson had to leave his position as an MP due to his involvement with the “mafia of the leeches” (“mafia das saguessugas”), a system of fraud in the health sector, especially involving the purchase of ambulances.

The MST also explained that rural workers Joao Batista Galdino de Souza and Jose Valmeristo (known as Caribe), were forced by three gunmen to get on a vehicle, where both were tortured.

Joao Batista Galdino could escape, but Jose Valmeristo Soares was killed, and his body was found on Saturday 4th by members of the organization. The MST had settled a campsite in Cambará field. Bengstson has ownership titles over that land, but the rural workers claim that the field belongs to the Brazilian State.

This has to be added to another attack which took place on August 29th against the campsite called Salete Moreno, in Maranhao state, where ten gunmen tried to evict 58 families from Arizona, a field occupied by the MST since 2008.

The landless workers are denouncing that the group was hired by people from the field and that they work for the Maranhao Private Security company (Seprima).

A leader of the National Coordination of the CPT, Dirceu Fumagali, analyzed the increase of violence in the North-East region of Brazil. “The main problem is land concentration, and this is the region where there are more landless rural workers”, said the leader, in an interview with Agencia de Noticias do Planalto.

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