Former MST, José Rainha is arrested on suspicion of extorting farmers

The former leader of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) José Rainha Júnior, known as “Zé Rainha”, was arrested by the Civil Police this Saturday (4) in the region of Pontal do Paranapanema, in the extreme west of the State of São Paulo . Years after leaving the MST, Rainha founded the social movement called the National Fight Front (FNL) which, like the MST, has a history of land invasions.

The activist was arrested on a lot where he lives, in the settlement called “Che Guevara”, in the municipality of Mirante do Paranapanema. In the same operation, another FNL leader, Luciano de Lima, was arrested. Both are suspected of extorting rural property owners.

Civil Police investigation points out that the two militants demanded payment from at least six rural producers. “The preventive arrests are aimed at interrupting the criminal cycle and promoting general prevention and peace in the countryside. The operations are aimed at investigating the cycle of violence resulting from extortion and firearms, including rifle shots, which put at risk undetermined number of people,” the Civil Police said in a statement released on Saturday night.

According to the police, the arrest has nothing to do with the series of invasions by landless militants that took place in São Paulo last month and were called “Red Carnival”. The acts were coordinated by the FNL and resulted in dozens of invasions that mobilized 2,500 social movement activists.

In the past, Rainha had already been convicted of several crimes, such as illegal possession of a weapon, embezzlement, conspiracy and extortion. In a note, the FNL says that the arrests have a “political nature”.