BY ERNIE MAILHOT
MIAMI - The Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) of Brazil continues to gather support in Brazil and internationally for the fight to overturn the conviction of MST leader José Rainha.

The defense effort in Brazil is presently focused on the demand to move the retrial from the town in Espírito Santo, where it is scheduled for September 16. This is the same town where Rainha was found guilty by a jury chosen from a jury pool largely made up of landowners and their supporters.

The court has twice delayed its decision on whether to move the trial and is expected to make an announcement any day. If the trial is moved it will also be delayed, possibly for several months.

The Ad Hoc Committee to Defend José Rainha from Miami sent more that 260 letters opposing the activist's conviction to the offices of the MST at the beginning of September. These letters were signed by 380 unionists, farm activists, students, and others.

The Ad Hoc Committee is based in the Miami office of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE). It has put out a brochure explaining the defense effort and is collecting letters of support.

One of the petitions sent to Brazil was signed by dozens of students from Houston and another, collected at mass at St. James Catholic Church in Newark, New Jersey, contained 40 signatures. Some of the individuals that signed letters of protest were Monica Russo, the Florida Director of UNITE; Medea Benjamin, a central leader of Global Exchange in San Francisco; Gary Grant from the Land Loss Fund, a Black farmers organization from North Carolina; Angel Domínguez who signed a letter for the Committee for Dignity and Justice for Immigrants in Miami, and many others.

A letter from Gerald O'Hara, corresponding secretary of the United Irish-American Societies of Delaware Valley, states, "The prosecution called no witnesses, relying instead on reading some statements wrested from workers who were tortured in the military police barracks. Hmmm, reminds me of Northern Ireland where real evidence is ignored and statements given under torture are the sole basis for conviction."

Nelson Carrasquillo, the executive director of the Farmworkers Support Committee (CATA) based in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, wrote to the Brazilian court, "As an organization committed to fighting for the rights of farmworkers, we urge you to see that the guilty verdict against Mr. Rainha be overturned immediately."

In addition to the package of letters sent to Brazil, 125 trade unionists signed protest messages during the Ask a Working Woman conference held in Washington, D.C., September 5-7. They learned about the case from union supporters of the Rainha defense effort who set up an informational table on the case at the labor meeting. Signers included rank and file members of many unions, as well as executive board members, local presidents and international union representatives. Ida Castro, director of the Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Labor also signed a letter demanding that Rainha's conviction be overturned.

For more information, you can write to the Ad Hoc Committee to Defend José Rainha, c/o Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees (UNITE), 1501 NW 29th Street, Miami, FL 33142. Tel: (305) 868-5674. Fax: (305) 633- 7478.  
 
 
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