Levante Popular da Juventude, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande dol Sul

After the Jornada de Agroecologia I returned to the ELAA for a day and then travelled 12 hours south to Rio Grande dol Sul, the southernmost state of Brasil. The state is known for its fertile rolling plains, cold winter weather, yerba mate, and ''gaucho" culture. Rio Grande is also the birthplace of the MST, with the first acampamento in Ezcruzilado Natalinho, and the first major land vicotry in Fazenda Annoni. A number of other agrarian social movements also took root in Rio Grande, including the MPA (Movimento dos Pequenos Agricultures-- Small Farmer Movement) a 'cousin' of the MST that fights for rights and support of small family farming, and als the CPT (Comission Pastoral del la Terra) a socially active sector of the catholic church that helps organize and support farmers and peasant groups and helped create the MPA. A major reason why many social and especially social agrarian movements take root in Rio Grande is due to its accellerated development of captial and agro-industry in the state which occurred following WWII. The development of mechanized and chemical agriculture by large agri-business companies, pushed peasants off the land and pooled land and resources in the hands of a small minority, that managed the land in a much more 'productive' manner.

During the late 19th century and on into the 20th century, the region experience heavy italian and german migration, especially during the period known as the "embranquecimento" or "whitening," where the Brazilian government cleared large areas of land of Indians and African-descendents, and heavily emphasized European immigr

ation. In Porto Alegre, many times I've heard people refer to a white-

skinned, cleared-eyed man as 'alemao' or 'german', regardless of their actual descent.

After meeting with the MST office in Porto Alegre, I spent the next few days spending time with a group called "Levante Popular da Juventude." (Popular Youth Rising, or something of the sort). The movement surfaced in 2005 in Porto Alegre, with support of la

Via Campesina and other social movments in the area, that sought a need to organize and empower the youth of different social movements, as well provide contstructive environments and opportunities for kids and young adults in the peripheries of the city.

I visited a perihpery community, also

known as a "morro" (hill) or "favela." With the Levante I attended a community assembly where the Mayor of Porto Alegre talked

about the impacts of the World Cup 2014 construction, which included the relocation of thousands of families in the perihpery to build bigger roads and hotels in the area.

The assembly took place in a church, packed with hundreds of worried community members, who gave the Mayor quite a hard time. Basically the Mayor was trying to ease their worries

about being relocated to other parts of the city and about the resources and financial aid they would recieve to make the move. However it became obvious as the assembly went on, that this project, funded by the government, would only benefit interests of tourism and commercial interests a small minority and move voice-less, lower income families further into the perfiphey.

The Levante hopes soon expand outside of Rio Grande to other parts of Brazil, organizing and create strong networks between social movements throughout the country to create a stronger and more informed "base."

(Kid's Banner: We want guarantee of our homes! With dignity!)