Witnesses said women and children were killed, but their bodies were not found among the 19 taken to hospital, Filho added. During the attack police confiscated equipment and film from a local television crew which had filmed part of the police operation. The TV journalist was detained. Survivors are being held in hospitals in Belem under heavy guard, with unions being denied access to them. There are grave fears that the survivors' lives may be at risk because they are the only witnesses to the murders.
Para has an appalling record of state violence.
Rocha had warned the government of an impending massacre. On April 19, a funeral procession extending six kilometres accompanied the bodies of 19 rural workers killed through the streets of Curionopolis. A day earlier, the MST mobilised more than 10,000 people for an occupation of a farm in Rio Bonito de Iguazu, in southern Brazil. Brazil is experiencing an upsurge in activity by landless and rural workers. Three thousand rural workers, organised by the MST, occupied an estate in the region in February.