LANDLESS MOVEMENT PEASANT FARMERS ARE ARRESTED AT FARM OF PRESIDENT CARDOSO, 2002-03-24 (photo)

Federal Police handcuff the leaders of a landless peasant movement less than a day after they invaded a farm belonging to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso near Buritis, 140 miles from the capital Brasilia, March 24, 2002. At least 16 leaders among the 450 members of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) that occupied the farm were arrested and brought to Brasilia, even though the government agreed to hear their demands for more land and agricultural credits. The MST regularly invades unused land to draw attention to unequal land distribution in the country. At far left is Maria de Oliveira, an administrator for Brazil's Agrarian Reform Institute (Incra) and negotiator, who resigned her post Sunday, to protest the government's arrest of the 16 MST leaders. REUTERS/Jamil Bittar GN/HK