Weekly Report - 6 April 2004

For a while last week it looked as if President Lula da Silva had been able to head off what threatened to become a major wave of land invasions by the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST, the movement of landless peasants) - with MST leaders retracting or toning down their most belligerent statements. Then, over the weekend, the MST and other rural organisations more than doubled the number of land seizures since the drive began in late March.