April 2005

by David Lavender

I traveled recently to Brazil. Much of the time I spent there I was involved with Via Campesina and the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST). My travels included the inauguration of the MST's Escola Nacional Florestan Fernandes near the city of Guararema, hanging out in the city of Sao Paulo (one of the world's largest cities which recently celebrated its 450th anniversary), in Porto Alegre for the World Social Forum, and near Candiotta in the south of Brazil at a MST settlement. The following is a brief overview of these groups and my experiences in Brazil.

August 2003

David Lavender:

Recently I found out that the Coop was thinking about buying scanners. I heard that a couple of my friends were going to a forum that night on the subject to share their opinions and get some information. The news I got was that the decision had already been made and the Coop was going to take out an $80,000 plus loan to pay for them. So a few of us who did not like the decision, nor the lack of notification and inclusiveness in making that decision, got together and arranged for a meeting with the board of the Coop. The day before our meeting we were informed by a board member . . .