Poor farmers say they'll occupy San Jose cathedral until granted land

Published: 2004-05-26

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (CNS) -- Three years after police first removed them from property claimed by the Standard Fruit Co., dozens of poor farmers and their families moved into San Jose's metropolitan cathedral in April, vowing to stay until a court grants them land. A court injunction issued in April prohibits the adults from returning to the disputed farmland, 40 miles northeast of San Jose in the Caribbean lowland district around the Sarapiqui River. In late May, some 120 men, women and children slept on the cathedral floor or in makeshift plastic tents erected in the courtyard. Many of the adults at the cathedral were charged with land invasion after attempting to retake the disputed property, the fifth eviction from the site since 2001, said Ileana Murillo Sanchez, spokeswoman for the group.

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