Excerpted from a 41-minute documentary entitled Raiz Forte (Strong Roots), this short explores the Landless Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil and the obstacles it faces in its lawful, peaceful struggle for land reform.

The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem-Terra (MST) is the largest social movement in Latin America. It emerged as a response to social and economic disparities in Brazil, where less than three percent of the population owns two-thirds of the arable land. Unfortunately, much of this land is not even used productively.

Sixty percent of the country's farmland lies idle. In an attempt to address this inequity, the Brazilian Constitution states that land ought to serve a social purpose. In the face of government inaction, hundreds of thousands of landless workers have demanded that Brazilian constitutional law be upheld and that unproductive land be redistributed to those who would cultivate it for the benefit of a wider community.

MST's history is rife with struggle and loss. More than 1500 landless workers have been killed in the last 15 years and reactionary violence against them shows no sign of abating. Landless workers and MST leaders are continually subject to attacks from large estate owners, hired-gunmen, and in the case of Eldorado dos Carajás, from military police. The massacre at Eldorado dos Carajás, in the northern state of Pará, demonstrates that while the government affirms the citizens’ rightful claims to the land, these same officials may not protect the underprivileged as they exercise these legal rights.

Watch the Rights Alert and read more about MST’s ongoing struggle for justice and the right to land in Brazil at WITNESS.org.