Brazil police, peasants clash in capital

Brazilian police and protesters have clashed after thousands of landless peasants took to the streets of the capital, Brasilia, to demand land reform.

According to reports, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas as protesters tried to get close to the presidential palace in the capital on Wednesday.

The fierce clashes between police and landless peasants have reportedly left more than 40 people injured.

The Supreme Court of Brazil suspended its Wednesday session due to the intensity of the protest.

Brasilia officials say some 15,000 agricultural workers took part in the demonstration, which marked 30 years of the Landless Workers Movement (MST).

The movement has been struggling to help hundreds of thousands of Brazilian families obtain land.

MST officials say thousands of schools have been closed down in rural areas in the past 12 years and their land has been confiscated.

They also accuse Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff of slowing the pace in giving peasants unused land.

“Dilma’s government has been the worst in terms of land reform. She has done nothing to help Brazil shirk off being a country with one of the most unequal distributions of land in the world,” said Alexandre Conceicao, a member of the MST national coordination committee.