Hundreds of Brazilian farmers have blocked a railway owned by mining firm Vale in protest against the construction of a hydroelectric dam which they say will displace thousands of people.

 

Around 600 members of Via Campesina, or international peasant movement, destroyed railway signals and threw tyres on the rail tracks, the company said.

Vale condemned the action in a statement, saying it "repudiates violence and the constant threats to its patrimony and life of its workers by the MST".

 

Land reforms

 

On Saturday, MST activists invaded a Vale-owned forestry and charcoal unit near the company's plant in Carajas - the Amazon area where Vale's biggest iron ore mine is located.

 

Last October the group, along with Via Campesina, also blocked a railroad near the Carajas plant for two days, briefly leaving the plant without raw materials.

 

In Brazil, land considered unproductive can be expropriated by the government for redistribution to the country's poor.

 

About 3.5 per cent of landowners hold 56 per cent of arable land in Brazil, while the poorest 40 per cent own only one per cent.

 

In recent years the groups have also turned their attention to targeting large companies and multi-nationals, invading land they consider unproductive in order to pressure the government.