Incra leadership changes in 19 states with pressure from the MST – 04/20/2023 – Politics

The appointments of new local superintendents by Incra (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) have gained traction in recent days after a series of invasions and protests led by the MST (Movement of Landless Rural Workers and Workers).

The organization started this week the National Day of Fight for Land and Agrarian Reform with the invasion of at least nine farms, including an area that belongs to Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), in addition to Incra headquarters in at least seven units of the federation.

In all, Incra’s commands were changed in 19 states, in addition to the Federal District. The leaders of Minas Gerais, Amazonas, Alagoas, Tocantins, Rondônia and Roraima remain unchanged.

In Alagoas, Incra is headed by César Lira, cousin of the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP) since the Michel Temer (MDB) government. The situation is the same in Amapá, where the position is held by Fábio Muniz, sponsored by Senator Davi Alcolumbre (União Brasil). In both states, there were protests by social movements in front of the Incra headquarters demanding changes.

Land struggle movements charge the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) government for the delay in appointing new managers, which has dragged on for more than three months, and demand the exoneration of names linked to Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

“More than a hundred days have passed and the government should have exonerated everyone from Incra from the previous government. PT deputies and social movements will not participate in audiences with any Bolsonarist”, says federal deputy Valmir Assunção (PT-BA). , linked to the MST.

The entities also demand the elaboration of an emergency plan for agrarian reform that gives a horizon to the approximately 60 thousand families that live in camps and are waiting for settlements, according to an estimate by the MST.

A member of the national leadership of the MST, Ceres Hadich says that the changes at Incra are important to resume agrarian reform policies.

She highlights that the entity suggested names to occupy the regional superintendencies, but that the choices demanded consensus with other movements of fight for the land, with the benches of parliamentarians and with the government itself.

Among the new Incra superintendents in the states are career civil servants of the agency, trade unionists, lawyers, settlers linked to the MST, former parliamentarians and even the son of a former deputy. Most of the nominations have the endorsement of the PT’s state benches.

In Rio de Janeiro, for example, the leadership of Incra will be occupied by retired public defender Maria Lúcia Pontes, who has experience in land issues. In Ceará, the one chosen by the PT was the lawyer Erivandro Sousa, who grew up in a rural MST settlement.

In states such as Bahia, Paraná and Sergipe, the option was for Incra career civil servants with a history of dialogue with rural movements. In Maranhão and in the Western Pará unit, the nominees are former PT deputies. The superintendent in Piauí is an engineer, he was a project manager at Banco Itaú and is the son of former federal deputy Assis Carvalho, who died in 2020.

The Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture, Paulo Teixeira (PT), told the Sheet that this week’s nominations had been under review for 30 days at the Planalto Palace. “Each nominee goes through a funnel. Now that everyone has,” she said.

This Tuesday (18), the minister met with representatives of social movements in the countryside of Alagoas, who are demanding the departure of César Lira. Since January, the group has asked for the nomination of career server José Ubiratan Resende Santana. The nomination has the support of federal deputy Paulão (AL).

Arthur Lira’s cousin, however, is still in charge in Alagoas. He says that he wants to avoid tensions and that he is at President Lula’s disposal to continue with his work.

“It is an orchestrated action that is becoming ugly for themselves, who are not representing the interests of the settlers”, he stated.

Federal deputy João Daniel (PT-SE), linked to the MST, states that “there is no reason for the superintendent of Alagoas to be there”. He says that the Lula government is “a little fearful” because the base “is not progressive”, and that part of the nominations is still blocked.

“We cannot remain with people who were used to using weapons. Threatening, persecuting. You have been in a state where most of the militancy that you produce has been prevented from participating for seven years. [obter] credit, of all, for political persecution”, he affirms.

Deputy Valmir Assunção defends the dialogue with Arthur Lira to solve the impasse: “He is president of the Chamber, we voted for him. We will debate with which the best format and the best name. It will not be a problem”.

The MST invasions in April mark the 27th anniversary of the Eldorado do Carajás massacre, when 19 landless workers were killed by Pará Military Police troops in 1996. The organization defends agrarian reform, investment in family farming and access to credit to produce more food.

Last week, the national coordinator of the MST, João Paulo Rodrigues, ruled out promoting a wave of property invasions in Abril Vermelho. He said that he said that occupations should occur punctually, but not dozens or even hundreds, which characterized the movement’s annual journey.

Faced with the invasions, the agribusiness caucus has pressured the president of the Chamber to open a CPI (Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry) to investigate the MST. The president of the Agricultural Parliamentary Front, federal deputy Pedro Lupion (PP-PR), says that today the main agenda of the sector is “to stop this turmoil”.

“The President of the Republic put on an MST cap and went out campaigning across the country. The responsibility for calming down and stopping the bleeding lies solely and exclusively with him and his party. Our role as a representative of rural producers is to warn that this is going beyond reasonable.”

For Ceres Hadich, from the MST, the ruralist caucus acts to try to criminalize, isolate and put land struggle movements on the defensive: “The right is digging up archaic agendas against the just fight for agrarian reform. It’s part of the dispute over narratives, but It’s something that holds little power”.