Lagoa Vermelha (Brasil), 1953

By Equipo Latinoamericana

Originating from a family of small farmers of Italian descent, João Pedro Stedile became the most prominent leader of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST). He graduated in Economics from PUC Rio Grande do Sul and completed his postgraduate studies at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he established contact with Ruy Mauro Marini, one of the exponents of dependency theory. Connected to progressive sectors of the Catholic Church, he was a seminarian and advised the Pastoral Land Commission in Rio Grande do Sul. He also worked in the Agriculture Secretariat of his home state.

He is one of the founders and a member of the national leadership of the MST and of continental Latin American organizations, such as CLOC, as well as international ones like La Vía Campesina. Along with him, the national leadership of the MST included others like Gilmar Mauro, Walter Assunção, Enio Bonemberger, and José Rainha. He has written books such as Brava gente: a trajetória do MST e a luta pela terra no Brasil (1999), in collaboration with Bernardo Mançano Fernandes, Assentamentos: uma resposta econômica da reforma agrária (1986), and Luta pela terra no Brasil (1993)—the latter co-authored with Frei Sérgio Görgen.