Eldorado de Carajás massacre

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Nineteen landless farmers demonstrating for the disappropriation of an unproductive ranch were shot and killed by state police in 1996.

On April 17, 1996, 19 landless farmers of the MST movement ("Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra") were shot by Pará state military police at the "S" curve of highway PA-150 at Eldorado dos Carajás, in southern Pará state. These people were part of a demonstration calling for the federal appropriation of an unproductive ranch where the MST had mounted a camp called "Macaxeira" with almost 3000 families.

The Portuguese word "massacre" has been used repeatedly and consistently in the Brazilian press to describe the shooting deaths of these farmers. There are well over 100 Brazilian news internet sites the use the exact phrase "massacre de Eldorado de Carajás" to designate these killings.

The President of the Brazilian Federal House of Representatives, Arlindo Chinaglia, gave a speech to remember the horror of the "Massacre de Eldorado de Carajás" in Brasilia on 17 April, 2008, to mark the 12th year after the massacre. See: "Chinaglia afirma que Massacre de Eldorado dos Carajás é o maior contra trabalhadores brasileiros".