Brazil anti-government protests enter second day

BRASILIA (Reuters) -- Brazil's radical Landless Movement (MST) began a second day of anti-government demonstrations Wednesday by mourning the death of a follower at the hands of police, MST leaders said.

Organizers said 47-year-old Jose Marluce da Silva was shot Tuesday during a bid to occupy a federal bank in the northern city of Recife to demand promised land credits from the government.

"There the police greeted us with beatings and bullets," said MST activist Janeidi Lopes. "We cried out for help, we took him to the hospital, but he was too badly injured."

The protests, set to take place through Friday, are aimed at prodding Congress to investigate charges that President Fernando Henrique Cardoso's cabinet members helped steal up to $100 million during the construction of a Sao Paulo courthouse.

The allegations have already led to the first-ever impeachment of a Brazilian senator in June in what analysts are calling the most damaging scandal to hit the Cardoso administration since it came to power in 1995.

MST leaders said the protest could gain force through the week. Nationwide, more than 500,000 followers are expected to join marches and building occupations by Friday.

Labor unions and opposition parties, eyeing October municipal elections, are also expected to participate.

Agrarian Reform Minister Raul Jungmann cut short his vacation to deal with the protest.

"Sadly, here things only get resolved after someone dies," Lopes said.

The MST, which has become one of Brazil's strongest voices for social change, often faces violence following its illegal building occupations and land invasions. Such tactics are used to pressure the government into redistributing land and rural credits.

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