The struggle for land in the pages of the newspaper O Grito da PA 150: land and freedom: between the complaint and the political education of peasants in Southeastern Pará

Abstract

The present paper aims to present the struggle for land undertaken by peasants from the southeastern region of the Brazilian state of Pará through the pages of the newspaper O Grito da PA 150. This newspaper circulated between 1980 and 1986 and it was published by the Diocese of Marabá (PA). Therefore, O Grito da PA 150 played an important role in the covering of information as well as political formation for the community. Since this newspaper was published in the final years of the dictatorship, it suffered constant political persecution and vigilance. As its main content, reports of assassinations of leaders of the community, allegations of slave labor and illegal jailing were often published. It also covered campaigns for unionization and the support for the fight for land reform. As a result, O Grito da PA 150 gathered part of the region's political activists. Alongside other alternative newspapers, concerned with the defense of democracy and of human rights, the simple languaged and mimeographed O Grito da PA 150 was distributed through the Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBs), Neighborhood Associations and Union Opposition in more than ten cities of the state of Pará, inciting hatred among land owners, as well as, civilian and military authorities of the southeast region of Pará.