Cable Viewer

Currently released so far... 3895 / 251,287

### Articles

Brazil Sri Lanka United Kingdom Sweden Editorial United States Latin America Egypt Yemen Jordan

### Browse latest releases

2010/11 2010/12 2011/01 2011/02
2010/11/28 2010/11/29 2010/11/30
2010/12/01 2010/12/02 2010/12/03 2010/12/04 2010/12/05 2010/12/06 2010/12/07 2010/12/08 2010/12/09 2010/12/10 2010/12/11 2010/12/12 2010/12/13 2010/12/14 2010/12/15 2010/12/16 2010/12/17 2010/12/18 2010/12/19 2010/12/20 2010/12/21 2010/12/22 2010/12/23 2010/12/24 2010/12/25 2010/12/26 2010/12/27 2010/12/28 2010/12/29 2010/12/30
2011/01/01 2011/01/02 2011/01/04 2011/01/05 2011/01/07 2011/01/09 2011/01/10 2011/01/11 2011/01/12 2011/01/13 2011/01/14 2011/01/15 2011/01/16 2011/01/17 2011/01/18 2011/01/19 2011/01/20 2011/01/21 2011/01/22 2011/01/23 2011/01/24 2011/01/25 2011/01/26 2011/01/27 2011/01/28 2011/01/29 2011/01/30 2011/01/31
2011/02/01 2011/02/02 2011/02/03 2011/02/04 2011/02/05 2011/02/06 2011/02/07 2011/02/08 2011/02/09

### Browse by creation date

66 72 73 75 79 86 88 89 90 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10
1966/12
1972/02 1972/08
1973/04
1975/03
1979/08
1986/05
1988/01
1989/12
1990/01 1990/07 1990/08
2000/06 2000/09 2000/11
2001/02 2001/03 2001/07 2001/10
2002/02 2002/03 2002/11
2003/03 2003/04 2003/05 2003/06 2003/07 2003/08 2003/09 2003/10 2003/11 2003/12
2004/01 2004/02 2004/03 2004/04 2004/05 2004/06 2004/07 2004/08 2004/09 2004/10 2004/11 2004/12
2005/01 2005/02 2005/03 2005/04 2005/05 2005/06 2005/07 2005/08 2005/09 2005/10 2005/11 2005/12
2006/01 2006/02 2006/03 2006/04 2006/05 2006/06 2006/07 2006/08 2006/09 2006/10 2006/11 2006/12
2007/01 2007/02 2007/03 2007/04 2007/05 2007/06 2007/07 2007/08 2007/09 2007/10 2007/11 2007/12
2008/01 2008/02 2008/03 2008/04 2008/05 2008/06 2008/07 2008/08 2008/09 2008/10 2008/11 2008/12
2009/01 2009/02 2009/03 2009/04 2009/05 2009/06 2009/07 2009/08 2009/09 2009/10 2009/11 2009/12
2010/01 2010/02

### Browse by origin

A B C D F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z
Embassy Athens Embassy Asuncion Embassy Astana Embassy Asmara Embassy Ashgabat Embassy Ankara Embassy Amman Embassy Algiers Embassy Addis Ababa Embassy Accra Embassy Abuja Embassy Abu Dhabi Embassy Abidjan Consulate Amsterdam American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
Embassy Bujumbura Embassy Buenos Aires Embassy Budapest Embassy Bucharest Embassy Brussels Embassy Bridgetown Embassy Bratislava Embassy Brasilia Embassy Bogota Embassy Bishkek Embassy Bern Embassy Berlin Embassy Belgrade Embassy Beirut Embassy Beijing Embassy Banjul Embassy Bangkok Embassy Bandar Seri Begawan Embassy Bamako Embassy Baku Embassy Baghdad Consulate Barcelona
Embassy Copenhagen Embassy Conakry Embassy Colombo Embassy Chisinau Embassy Caracas Embassy Canberra Embassy Cairo Consulate Curacao Consulate Casablanca Consulate Cape Town
Embassy Dushanbe Embassy Dublin Embassy Doha Embassy Djibouti Embassy Dhaka Embassy Dar Es Salaam Embassy Damascus Embassy Dakar Consulate Dubai
Embassy Freetown
Embassy Guatemala Embassy Gaborone
Embassy Harare Embassy Hanoi Consulate Hamburg
Iran RPO Dubai Embassy Islamabad Consulate Istanbul
Embassy Jakarta Consulate Jerusalem Consulate Jeddah
Embassy Kyiv Embassy Kuwait Embassy Kuala Lumpur Embassy Kinshasa Embassy Kigali Embassy Khartoum Embassy Kampala Embassy Kabul
Embassy Luxembourg Embassy Luanda Embassy London Embassy Lisbon Embassy Lima Embassy Lilongwe Embassy La Paz Consulate Lagos
Mission USNATO Embassy Muscat Embassy Moscow Embassy Montevideo Embassy Monrovia Embassy Minsk Embassy Mexico Embassy Maputo Embassy Manama Embassy Managua Embassy Madrid Consulate Munich Consulate Montreal Consulate Monterrey
Embassy New Delhi Embassy Nassau Embassy Nairobi Consulate Naples
Embassy Ouagadougou Embassy Ottawa Embassy Oslo
Embassy Pristina Embassy Pretoria Embassy Prague Embassy Port Au Prince Embassy Phnom Penh Embassy Paris Embassy Paramaribo Embassy Panama Consulate Peshawar
Embassy Quito
REO Basrah Embassy Rome Embassy Riyadh Embassy Riga Embassy Reykjavik Embassy Rangoon Embassy Rabat Consulate Rio De Janeiro Consulate Recife
Secretary of State Embassy Stockholm Embassy Sofia Embassy Skopje Embassy Singapore Embassy Seoul Embassy Sarajevo Embassy Santo Domingo Embassy Santiago Embassy Sanaa Embassy San Salvador Embassy San Jose Consulate Strasbourg Consulate Shenyang Consulate Shanghai Consulate Sao Paulo
Embassy Tunis Embassy Tripoli Embassy Tokyo Embassy The Hague Embassy Tel Aviv Embassy Tehran Embassy Tegucigalpa Embassy Tbilisi Embassy Tashkent Embassy Tallinn
USUN New York USEU Brussels US Mission Geneva US Interests Section Havana US Delegation, Secretary UNVIE Embassy Ulaanbaatar
Embassy Vilnius Embassy Vienna Embassy Vatican Consulate Vladivostok
Embassy Windhoek Embassy Wellington Embassy Warsaw
Embassy Yerevan Embassy Yaounde
Embassy Zagreb

### Browse by tag

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
AF ASEC AE AR AG AJ AFIN AU AM APER ABUD ATRN AORC AEMR AMGT ACOA AEC AO AX AMED ADCO AODE AFFAIRS AC AS AL ASIG ABLD AA AFU ASUP AROC ATFN AGMT
BU BR BL BO BM BE BH BTIO BEXP BIDEN BK BY BA BG BF BB BC BBSR BRUSSELS BILAT BX
CJAN CH CU CASC CVIS CMGT CO CI CLINTON CIA CG CF CN CS CAN COUNTER CIS CA CBW CM CE CONDOLEEZZA COE CR CY CD CTM COUNTRY CLEARANCE CPAS CWC CT CKGR CB CACS COM CDG CJUS CARSON COUNTERTERRORISM CACM CDB CV
DR DA DHS DOE DEA DK DJ DISENGAGEMENT DS DOD DEAX
EU EFIN EG ETTC EINV ENRG EI ECPS EINT ECON EIND ETRD EPET EUN EZ EMIN ELAB EAID EAGR ET EC EAIR ENVR ES ECA EWWT ER ELTN EFIS EN EXTERNAL ECIN EINVETC ENIV EINN ENGR EUR ESA ENERG ELECTIONS ECUN EINVEFIN ECIP EINDETRD EUC EREL
FR FINR FAO FTAA FREEDOM FI FARC FBI FJ FMLN
GM GG GH GE GV GT GR GTIP GOI GCC GAZA GZ GA GTMO
HA HILLARY HR HUMAN HO HYMPSK HU HURI HK
IR IZ IS IT INRB IRAJ IN INRA INRO IO IC ID IIP IAEA ITPHUM IV IPR IWC IQ ICTY ISRAELI IRAQI ICRC ICAO IMO IF ILC IEFIN INTELSAT IL IA IBRD IMF ITALY ITALIAN INTERPOL
JO JA JOSEPH JP JOHNNIE JUS JAMES
KE KTFN KDEM KJUS KNNP KGHG KZ KIPR KWBG KIRF KPAO KDRG KHLS KCRM KSCA KPAL KISL KG KACT KN KS KGIC KRAD KU KCOM KBIO KMCA KCOR KV KHDP KTIP KVPR KDEV KWMN KSPR KTIA KHIV KPRP KAWC KOLY KCIP KCFE KOCI KMDR KPKO KTDB KMRS KFRD KLIG KBCT KICC KGIT KSTC KUNR KPAK KNEI KSEP KPOA KFLU KNUP KNNPMNUC KOMC KAWK KO KTER KSUM KHUM KRFD KBTR KDDG KWWMN KFLO KSAF KBTS KPRV KMPI KNPP KNAR KWMM KERG KFIN KTBT KCRS KRVC KR KPWR KWAC KMIG KSEC KIFR KDEMAF KGCC KPIN KNUC KPLS KIRC
LE LY LU LG LH LI LO LOG LT
MARR MOPS MU MASS MY MNUC MCAP MA MO MTCRE MG MASC MX MCC MZ ML MK MTRE MP MIL MDC MTCR MAR MEPI MRCRE MI MT MR MQADHAFI MD MAPS MUCN MPOS MEPP MOPPS MAPP
NATO NIPP NL NO NG NI NPT NE NS NAR NZ NU NPG NK NSG NA NT NASA NGO NATIONAL
OFDP OVIP OPRC OREP OIIP ODIP OTRA OSCE OAS OPIC OPDC OEXC OECD OPCW OSCI OTR OVP OFFICIALS OSAC
PGOV PREL PINR PO PINS PTER PK PHUM PARM PL PE PREF PHSA PBTS PGOF PROP PARMS PA PM PMIL PTERE POL PF PALESTINIAN PY PGGV PNR POV PAK PAO PFOR PHALANAGE PARTY PNAT PROV PEL POLITICS PEPR PSI PINT PSOE PU POLITICAL PARTIES PBIO PECON POGOV PINL PKFK
QA
RS RU RW RP RIGHTS RICE RO ROBERT RF RFE REGION
SU SA SY SP SNAR SENV SCUL SW SOCI SF SO SR SG SMIG SL SN SHUM SZ SYR ST SANC SC SAN SIPRS SK SH SI STEINBERG
TI TIP TBIO TR TX TU TSPA TS TRGY TH TT TW TERRORISM TO TFIN TD TSPL TZ TPHY TK TNGD TC
UK UNSC UG US UZ UP UNO UNMIK UY UN UNGA UE UNESCO UAE UNEP USTR UNHCR UNDP UNHRC USAID UNCHS UNAUS USUN USEU UV
VZ VE VT VM VTPREL VN
WA WI WMO WTRO WTRQ WHO WWARD WB WBG WTO
XA XT XM XY XG XC XH XL XF XZ XW XR XD XS XK
YM YI YE
ZI ZP ZK ZF ZB ZANU ZOELLICK ZR ZU ZA

### Browse by classification

CONFIDENTIAL CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN SECRET SECRET//NOFORN UNCLASSIFIED UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

### Community resources

Follow us on Twitter Check our Reddit Twitter this Digg this page Contact us on IRC

courage is contagious

### Viewing cable 09SAOPAULO317, The MST Method: Work the State, Alienate the Locals

If you are new to these pages, please read an introduction on the structure of a cable as well as how to discuss them with others. See also the FAQs
Understanding cables
Every cable message consists of three parts:

- The top box shows each cables unique reference number, when and by whom it originally was sent, and what its initial classification was.
- The middle box contains the header information that is associated with the cable. It includes information about the receiver(s) as well as a general subject.
- The bottom box presents the body of the cable. The opening can contain a more specific subject, references to other cables (browse by origin to find them) or additional comment. This is followed by the main contents of the cable: a summary, a collection of specific topics and a comment section.

To understand the justification used for the classification of each cable, please use this WikiSource article as reference.
Discussing cables
If you find meaningful or important information in a cable, please link directly to its unique reference number. Linking to a specific paragraph in the body of a cable is also possible by copying the appropriate link (to be found at theparagraph symbol). Please mark messages for social networking services like Twitter with the hash tags #cablegate and a hash containing the reference ID e.g. #09SAOPAULO317.

Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
09SAOPAULO317 | 2009-05-29 13:01 | 2010-12-19 00:12 | UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY | Consulate Sao Paulo

`

    VZCZCXRO5979
    RR RUEHRG
    DE RUEHSO #0317/01 1491355
    ZNR UUUUU ZZH
    R 291355Z MAY 09
    FM AMCONSUL SAO PAULO
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9243
    INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0391
    RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 4373
    RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 9159
    RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 3516
    RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 3763
    RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 2917
    RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 2763
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 4114

` `

    UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SAO PAULO 000317

    STATE PASS TO DRL FOR MMITTELHAUSER

    SIPDIS
    SENSITIVE

    E.O. 12958: N/A
    TAGS: PREL PGOV EAGR ELAB PHUM PINS EINV SOCI ASEC BR

    SUBJECT: The MST Method: Work the State, Alienate the Locals

    SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED--PLEASE PROTECT ACCORDINGLY

    ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Landless Rural Worker's Movement (MST) follows a pre-planned methodology in its land seizures that includes leveraging contacts within the GOB's National Institute of Colonization and Agricultural Reform (INCRA) to help select targets, according to MST expert Clifford Welch, a U.S. professor based in Presidente Prudente, an interior city in Sao Paulo State. A visit by EconOff to this region provided a snapshot of the mechanics of how the MST has operated in this area. Once MST members occupy the land, the organization negotiates with the police and the GOB to convert the land into a permanent MST settlement. The MST then distributes plots of land to their followers. In a practice, both cynical and ironic, MST members sometimes wind up renting to agribusinesses the very lands they seized. The demographic profile of MST members shows them to be primarily small families and retired couples. Non-MST locals would prefer their MST neighbors leave, fearful that MST tactics will scare off foreign investment. End summary.

    --------------------------- An Up-Close View of the MST---------------------------

    ¶2. (SBU) On April 7, EconOff met with Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) expert Professor Clifford Welch, from the State University of Sao Paulo (UNESTE) in Presidente Prudente (a regional city in the interior of Sao Paulo State, pop. 230,000) and on loan from the University of Michigan. Welch has been teaching about the MST movement for the last three years at the UNESTE agrarian reform center called NERA. His students compile information on MST, usually by closely monitoring newspaper articles, and they also directly interact with the movement's members and visit their camps. Welch himself has spent extensive time in MST camps and has a good understanding of the organization. He has a decidedly pro-MST view, calling the movement, "The Fight for Land." EconOff got Welch's view of how the MST operates in that area while on a visit to Presidente Prudente.

    ------------------------------ The MST Method: Work the State ------------------------------

    ¶3. (SBU) The MST uses its contacts inside the federal agency INCRA (National Institute of Colonization and Agricultural Reform) to determine which land is next up for expropriation, Welch said. This agency is charged with designating private land for government seizure, usually by deeming it "unproductive." Welch told EconOff that INCRA does not make this information publically available and that the only way MST could access it would be through informants inside INCRA. (Note: There is at least one public case of a retired INCRA employee, Ivan Carlos Bueno, later joining MST. End note.) Once MST chooses its land target from INCRA's list, it then gives INCRA a deadline to expropriate the land--usually five days--or else MST threatens to expropriate it for them.

    ¶4. (SBU) INCRA normally cannot expropriate land with such a short deadline, so MST invades the land as promised. They follow up by constructing what they call a camp, essentially a makeshift settlement. The police usually arrive shortly after and begin negotiations for the squatters to leave. MST supporters, overmatched by armed police, evacuate the camp, wait for the police leave, and then return. This process repeats, sometimes indefinitely.

    ----------------------------- Life inside an MST Settlement -----------------------------

    ¶5. (SBU) A legal MST settlement is formed on parcels of land that INCRA has officially expropriated and then opened for public use. MST settlers live on many of them, but not all. Once on the land, MST farmers usually produce beef, dairy products, castor oil, or coffee. They sell their crops on the open market. Anyone who owns a parcel of land has complete control over it and does not share it with other settlement workers. Some farmers even choose to rent the land to agribusiness. A local agribusiness leader who has rented from MST "landowners" told EconOff that many of the settlers are remarkably good businesspeople.

    ¶6. (SBU) It takes approximately five years for a new MST recruit to earn a piece of land. He or she performs menial tasks for the  community while waiting. As new workers join the movement and this wait time grows, the pressure to find more settlements grows with it. A 10 percent tax (the MST prefer to call it a tithe) from the farmers supports these laborers while they wait for their parcel of land.

    ¶7. (SBU) NERA has determined that invasions directly resulted in legalization of 80 percent of the MST's settlements. Welch would not speculate on what would have happened if the movement had tried to take that same land with peaceful action. He did indicate that MST uses NERA's study to justify its continued invasions. INCRA uses the judicial process to expropriate peacefully the remaining 20 percent of settlements.

    --------------------------- The MST Participant Profile ---------------------------

    ¶8. (SBU) According to Welch, the driving force behind agrarian reform is the desire to move out of poverty. The principal demographic of those who join the movement are retired couples in their 40s and 50s, many of whom are former sugarcane laborers. Welch told EconOff that Brazilian law entitles these sugarcane cutters to a pension after 20 years of work, leaving many of them to early retirement. Since a large portion of these workers has always wanted their own parcel of land, they join the MST. (Note: While the GOB officially counts MST family size at five per person, Welch estimates a number close to three, due to this demographic and his experience in the camps. This means MST membership self-estimates of 1.5 million people are at least 40 percent too high. End note.)

    --------------------- Public Support Waning ---------------------

    ¶9. (SBU) Conversations with citizens in the city of Presidente Prudente in the interior of Sao Paulo State indicated that few people in the community support the MST. The president of the President Prudente chapter of the Sao Paulo Federation of Businesses (FIESP) told Econoff that fears of land seizures had pushed the real estate price for the fertile land down to one-third of what similar land costs in non-MST threatened areas in Sao Paulo State. FIESP board members agreed, citing the movement's decline as a principal reason that local land value had just recently begun to rise. Presidente Prudente's vice-mayor and city manager both echoed FIESP's sentiments.

    ¶10. (SBU) Comment: The MST's practice of distributing fertile parcels of land to the faithful and the subsequent ability for these individuals to rent the land back to agribusiness is ironic, to say the least. President Lula has been conspicuously silent on his early-career promises to support the MST for a good reason: An organization that seizes land in the name of the landless and then rents it back to the very same sorts of people from whom they took it has a serious credibility problem. End comment.

    ¶11. (U) This cable was coordinated with and cleared by Embassy Brasilia.

    WHITE

`