A igreja católica e a luta pela terra no sertão: história do assentamento Peba, Delmiro Gouveia, Alagoas, 1980-1989

Abstract

In the twentieth century segments of the Catholic Church began to oppose the situation of poverty in which the Latin American people were. The consequences of the economic crises caused in part by the colonial process, by successive coups, contributed to deepen inequalities among social classes. Thus, the struggle for agrarian reform in Brazil, in Alagoas and Delmiro Gouveia was more than urgent. In the backlands of Alagoas, the situation was no different, the latifundio was imperious and knew how to take advantage of the situation of vulnerability of the inhabitants of the region at the time of the occupation of the Peba Farm. Only with organization could the first land occupation of Alagoas be consolidated in the eighties, at the risk of death. The pioneerism of workers from the backlands of Alagoas, organized by the Catholic Church, when carrying out an occupation is the fact that inaugurates the struggle for land in the state. In the period of occupation of the Peba Farm, part of the Progressive Catholic Church subsidized by Liberation Theology acted through the Ecclesial Base Communities (CEBs), trade unions and political parties. Through the analysis of the memory of some subjects who participated in the events, there were conflicts in the social field and with the hierarchy of the Catholic Institution. In this set of events, the value of Liberation Theology as a rereading of the man of the field in search of his liberation was remarkable.