On Friday, May 7, the first rally of the "Solidarity Initiative Brazil" took place in Vienna. In various speeches, the rejection of large-scale land ownership and of the exploitation of Brazilian land by large foreign corporations was expressed.
It was a powerful rally held in front of the Brazilian Embassy. "The struggle for land is not a crime", was emphasized by a speaker of the Solidarity Initiative, "the criminals are the big landowners, and also the states of the EU, which with the help of the big landowners exploit the fertile land in Western Amazonia for cheap products." Activists from the trade union sector, anti-imperialist initiatives, as well as representatives of the revolutionary movement participated in the rally. A long-time and well-known activist of Latin American Solidarity and member of the board of the World Social Forum also pointed out the enormous militarization of the Brazilian state apparatus, which leads to the ever further dismantling of the democratic rights of the people. Speakers from a trade union initiative, also migrant organization showed their firm will and determination to support the solidarity campaign with the struggle of the poor peasants in Brazil, to keep international solidarity high.
"This rally was a first important step to make a contribution also in Austria to support the struggle of the peasant movement in Brazil and its organization the 'League of Poor Peasants'. It showed that many different people support this struggle and want to be involved in it - and they are not at all indifferent to what is happening in Brazil right now. This powerful solidarity rally will be followed by more actions! This was made all the more clear by the terrible news we heard during the afternoon that the special police of the Brazilian state had carried out a massacre with at least 25 dead in the favelas of Rio, the city's slums, on the same day. This also shows that resolute solidarity against the repression and oppression of the Brazilian population is urgently needed," said a report by the Solidarity Initiative Brazil.