The history of the problems surrounding Brazilian agriculture has already taught us many lessons: the resistance struggles of the small-scale farmers, massacres of thousands of people, the criminalization of the act of fighting for the land; the creation and destruction of various public policies; the conquest of land and territorialization of social movements, examples of the success of rural settlements and of cooperatives of small- scale farmers. The clashes of the relentless struggle resulted in death and pain becoming daily life. In the toing and froing of life, we are time and time again surprised by all kinds of aberrations. The most recent was an anonymous pamphlet distributed in São Gabriel (RS), suggesting three ways of assassinating landless workers. The first is to set fire to them; the second is by poisoning and the third is to shoot them dead. The author or authors of this pamphlet clearly consider the landless workers to be rats. The first form of assassination is not new. In 1995, such an act was attempted in the municipality of Getulina, in São Paulo, during the occupation of the Jangada Estate. I recall that I was undertaking research and that upon arriving at the camp I encountered several burnt-out shacks. The landless workers informed me that during the early hours of the morning, a number of men set fire to the dry pasture, which spread quickly, reaching the shacks. Although the people were sleeping, they all escaped with their lives. Many suffered burns as they attempted to rescue their belongings, which were in the end consumed by the flames. During 20 years of research into land issues, I have not encountered any occurrence of the second form of assassination. The third form, however, is well known by all of us. It is the most frequently applied method. Shooting people dead, carried out either by hit men or by the militia, is unfortunately already part of our everyday lives. We might disregard this pamphlet, as it appears to be an act of complete insanity. But we cannot, because we are familiar with the fascist practices of many landowners. The pamphlet symbolizes one example of this. The attempt at bringing fascism to the matter of agriculture represents the desperation felt by those who could lose part of their kingdom. At even the smallest hint of democratizing access to land, the Brazilian landowners rise up against everything and everyone, searching for arguments that make no sense in order to justify their privileges. The pamphlet is proclaiming that in the municipality of São Gabriel, even with the landowners dominating life there, nobody has lived in misery. The masters of the land do not see the extreme poverty. They stand by the maxim that war will guarantee peace. Peace is interpreted as death to all those who cross their paths, and occupy their territory. The pamphlet is loaded with hatred. It is fetid. The attempt at bringing fascism to the issue of agriculture is a way of detracting from its very substance, which is the class struggle. The contents of the pamphlet's message transform all of the citizens of São Gabriel into equals. Each and every one of them should be defending the interests of the landowners. It is a message of doctrinal exaltation in defense of the landowners' territory, as of it belonged to the public. It is calling to everyone to defend what belongs to just a few. It is portraying what is private as if it were public. This is a well-known tactic, which would not be alarming, if it were not for the atrocious proposals that go with it. This attitude represents desperation, because the landowners are aware of the Landless Workers Movement (MST). They know that it will be difficult to reverse this situation. The route has been outlined. The march has started. The fight for the land has reached São Gabriel. They know Canudos, Contestado, Corumbiara and Carajás. They know that death will not stop the fight. Unfortunately death is part of the long slow history of Brazil. The author or authors of this pamphlet must be arrested. Peace should be kept. The latifundios should be expropriated. Human dignity should be salvaged. (Translation by ALAI)