Colonel Mario Pantoja was sentenced to 228 years in prison on May 26 for his role in the massacre of landless peasants, including leaders of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) at Eldorado do Caraja on April 17, 1996. 150 military police officers have been accused of participating in the massacre, which resulted in 19 deaths, mostly in execution-style shootings, after 1500 peasants gathered to protest poverty and unequal land distribution.
