International Encyclopedia of Revolution and Protest

Extract

The União dos Lavradores e Trabalhadores Agrícolas do Brasil (ULTAB-Brazil) was founded at the Peasants' Conference in September 1954, in the city of São Paulo. This organization resulted from the efforts of the Brazilian Communist Party (Partido Comunista Brasileiro, PCB) to unite protests around the country. ULTAB was created in order to encourage wage-earners to fight for their rights, but it also supported other categories of workers, including leaseholders. The 1950s in Brazil were characterized by the emergence of many agrarian struggles: the state of Paraná saw resistance by the Porecatu guerillas and struggles between leaseholders and colonists' companies; in the state of Goiás there were fights with the Trombas and Formoso; conflicts of peasant leagues erupted in northwest Brazil; and strikes broke out in São Paulo. The emergence of these conflicts resulted from the capitalist expansion to the countryside and rural areas. These circumstances arose during intense intellectual debates on how to solve the agrarian question in Brazil. The PCB had a particular role in these discussions and in political struggles. The efforts of the PCB included gathering complaints and articulating a set of general objectives, including agrarian reform. It also ran a journal, Terra Livre (Free Land), whose purpose was to publicize the injustice occurring in rural areas. The actions of the ... log in or subscribe to read full text