On April 17, 1996, close to 1500 rural landless workers began a march to the Pará state capital of Belém, Brazil with the goal of presenting their demands to resolve their land situation. When they arrived to the city of Eldorado do Carajás, the march stopped so that people could rest, but they were attacked by more than 100 military police officers who fired live ammunition into the crowd of demonstrators, killing 19. In 2002 then Brazilian president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, declared April 17 to be the "National Day of Struggle for Agrarian Reform."