Constantly. ia Periods to or set free are sub- Othe Constant persecution. fy ae union leaders are bru- Ms for ott ave died in police “ leader xample Virgilio Gomes’ da ‘Ty otkerg? Siam me Paulo chemi- Ser cg nm. Last Ferbruary a | wat os poferval Alves Coquiero 1 Streets ae in one of the e sam tne Workers? e town. Tied Struggles, the strikes Rs etna net the dictatorial re- Ve little a Protests and demands Me inion ©,little re-established the . torshi Organizations, although the ‘a to ie done everything in its ir: lations Storm them into mutualist set of ene them a small pro- Vig) and Bene from their sports ig Cia pene a demagogic plan pula B cl gration with the aim of a! tong 48s collaboration. . richte °ctive protests for trade tycttatic oes for the restoration of aft. Tn re taken place in the | lie event. »/0 there were some not- 3 bay, te 6th Brazilian trade union | avi ational Convention of OtKerg, en Congress of Industrial | Mal wo4° /th National Congress of | Social Security Employees, Begg, OTK ep gp > ANd two national con- ORR beng decig; blic employees. In unani- oe : fe crawal of the present | tng” of ra pbosed the denational- bay s country’s industry and See Unit the international—pri- ty for . _States — monopolies “tue rictions on the export of : lng tte intron alist companies, the Haag Bhd eg Toduction of agrarian re- ig tons, eecally the ending of the fhe ag and imprisonments, ‘|S Olding Tation of habeas-corpus “Trig D8 a. of free and democratic eptets, Tp the release of political ;., ~. 4th National Congress Orkers also decided un- \saffiliate the organiza- [hy byw of he ICFTU and the ORIT, ej ‘ org Mcreasing support given fi d : ht 80es foping countries. And The Hie We die ‘ Mere poeship Against Land Nidente sressive Catholics, “ity S and Intellectuals Tiny u wre th aT hich « SAme tj Mle '§ Boing © 88 the persecution oh ng on j med 5 in the towns, the Y the landowners, have preced ente i Ural amo d terror in the k ie Wn Rok iT . beet °r in prison. The organ- nN lng’, pa mtost destroyed. The dic- Ubu, ters ane Strong support to the “oli enters, the owners of agri- kere t 2 rprlses, have gradually fiona: The 'ghts won by agricultural thy sal Mo Minimum wage, the ad- Sl see S wage every year and Urity provisions are not i Ons those taking part de-. idea e® Gnd centers of public organizations as well as private homes are fully respected. Unemployment and poverty are on the increase in the countryside. Of the 73 biggest sugar undertakings in the State of Pernam- buco, a sugar region, only 42 are still in operation, There have been strikes and occupations of undertakings, so that workers can eat, at least by what they produce. This is the situation in the countryside, especially in the north- east. There is famine, and the towns are besieged by a starving population. The dictatorship has abandoned agrar- ian reform and has merely changed the nomenclature of its useless organiza- tions without actually doing anything. The agricultural workers’ trade union organizations are systematically perse- cuted. The National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (CONTAG) is- sued a strong protest in March 1970 to the President of the Republic: ‘It is our duty to inform you that in all regions of Brazil there are landowners who refuse even to accept the exist- ence of trade unions of agricultural workers. A simple, groundless accusa- tion is enough for the authotities, not too well informed about labor legis- lation or agrarian reform, to place trade union leaders in an atmosphere of in- security, repression and even imprison- ment, in conditions which are contrary to human dignity.’ Repression against progressive Cath- olics who have roots among the people has been violent. In the first months Lage was sentenced to 28 years’ im- prisonment and is at present living in exile in Mexico.. Attacks on the Arch- bishop of Recife e Olinda, Don Helder Camara, have gone as far as murder threats. Priests, monks and nuns have been tortured. Churches, convents and Catholic universities have been in- vaded. Father Antonio Henrique Pere- ira Neto of Recife was mutilated and killed, solely because he was Don Helder Camara’s assistant. A monk, Tito de Alencar, and other Dominicans, were brutally tortured. A nun, Mautina Borges da Silveira, was arrested, mal- treated and expe Almost the whole lea Catholic Workers’ Yout been imprisoned, which has pro hops has met many against. this wave of terror and perse- cution against the Catholic church, and has made its protests public. On Jan- uary 29 Father Giulio Vicini and a wel- fare worker,