Hundreds of landless farmers in Brazil have invaded and occupied a soybean plantation owned by a company belonging to Agriculture Minister Blairo Maggi. The takeover by some 500 people was organized by the Landless Rural Workers' Movement, which encourages the seizure of farmland it deems unproductive as a tactic to pressure the government.
Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff claimed that land reform was needed to eradicate poverty, avoid overcrowding in urban areas and as a matter of justice for the long delayed distribution of land.“