The issue of land rights in Brazil has been fraught since colonial times. Today, 45 percent of the land belongs to one percent of the population, although the ethnic Indians have tilled the land for centuries. Under Brazilian law, land automatically becomes the property of those who occupy and work it after 10 years. But in practice, this is seldom the case. In the small town of Piracicaba 1200 families set up camp to stake their claim on the land. Just as they were hoping to replace their simple tents with more permanent wooden huts, the original landowners turned up and evicted them. As usual, the military police got involved, leading to violent clashes and 19 dead. "We've had to move around everywhere... and this is where we've ended up", says one squatter. A disturbing look at the history of abuse suffered by those most vulnerable.

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