With Alessandra da Costa

The

Marcha das Margaridas 2011

is off!

Brazilian women from rural and forest areas are marching from east and west and north and south to gather at Parque da Cidade, Brasilia, the meeting point for tomorrow’s monumental demonstration that marks the culmination of the Marcha das Margaridas 2011. Sirel spoke with Alessandra da Costa, CONTAG vice president and international relations officer, about this annual women’s march.

-How are the preparations for tomorrow’s march coming along?

-Expectations are high. Almost all of the delegations have arrived. In all, we expect to gather over 100,000 women in Brazil’s capital. Tomorrow morning (Thursday, August 18) we’ll be marching towards the seat of national congress.

This morning we held several workshops on issues relating to this year’s demands.

Right now we’re launching an official opening ceremony for the Marcha das Margaridas, and at night we’ll have cultural activities with popular entertainment.

-What happens tomorrow?

-We’ll start marching in the streets of Brasilia early in the morning, to gather in front of congress in a huge demonstration. Then we will come back here, where we’re concentrated, and we hope that our new president, Dilma Rousseff, will come to us and respond in person to our platform of demands.

-How were the negotiations with the government leading up this march?

-Over the last 30 days we have been meeting with representatives of all the ministries relevant to our demands, and through them we have sent Dilma almost 200 demands, in the hope that the government will take us into account when it develops its public policies for agriculture and rural women in the next four years of government.

More than just to celebrate the election of Brazil’s first woman president, we’re here to bring her our demands and to tell her what kind of policies rural women need.

-There’s a significant presence of the international community here...

-Yes, we have a large delegation from IUF Latin America, also a delegation from the Coordinating Body of Organizations of Family Producers from MERCOSUR (COPROFAM), and one from the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Rural Women (REDE LAC). It’s very important for us to hear the experiences of other Latin American women, both from rural workers and city workers, and to have them participate in this great Marcha das Margaridas 2011.

We have a lot of demands in common with women from across Latin America, including the fight against gender violence, the struggle for land, and the demand for health and education, among others.