SÃO PAULO—The Landless Movement (MST), the most influential peasant organization in Brazil, today condemned the violent eviction of a slum carried out on Sunday in the city of São José dos Campos, in the State of Sao Paulo.
The eviction of the Pinheirinho favela (slum), inhabited by about 6,000 people, was MST described it as “an act of war” by the military police in São Paulo: “The eviction of these families is an act of war by the military police, who were raised by the dictatorship, and form one more example of the position of the State toward the struggles of the Brazilian people,” the MST said in a statement.
The Governor of São Paulo Geraldo Alckmin, confirmed to local media today, saying that a judge accompanied the police action and examined whether any abuse or excessive use of force was committed, which, according to him, is usual in such cases.
Police used tear gas and rubber bullets in the eviction of the slum dwellers against the resistance of the locals who burned eight vehicles and threw stones at security forces.
The operation involved the support of 2,000 law enforcement officials and resulted in 32 arrests for acts of vandalism, but no injuries were reported, according to the latest bulletin of the military police.
On Monday, the police again used rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse a group of people from the favela who was demonstrating against the court-ordered eviction.
The Pinheirinho favela was established improperly eight years ago on the grounds of an abandoned factory in this industrial city 100 kilometers from the City of São Paulo.
About 600 residents have had to move to a shelter set up by the municipality of São José dos Campos near the slum.
The authorities today sealed the houses and labeled the belongings of the inhabitants, that the municipality remove them to a storage facility and then returning them to their owners, the official agency (Brazil) reported.
The MST is a leftist organization that, according to its own figures, has nearly two million members, and defends the cause of the landless and the homeless.
In its protest against the eviction of Pinheirinho, the MST reiterated the “urgent” need to undertake reforms in the agricultural and urban system to resolve the shortfall of 5.5 million homes in Brazil, according to its calculations.