Land compensation to farmers does not solve indigenous issue

The resumption of the judgment in the Federal Supreme Court (STF) on the time frame for the demarcation of indigenous lands, last Wednesday (7), raised the issue of compensation for the lands of the so-called bona fide owners. In his vote, Minister Alexandre de Moraes suggested a “middle way”, recognizing indigenous rights, but also providing for compensation for lands that may be expropriated. Currently, landowners who have their areas demarcated as indigenous lands are only entitled to compensation for improvements. Moraes’ proposal, however, was not well received – neither by indigenists nor by farmers.

Minister Alexandre de Moraes’ vote was delivered during the resumption of the trial on the case, which will have general repercussions for the demarcation of indigenous lands in the country. Therefore, the definition of this case will standardize the interpretation of the Constitution and should also guide the decisions given in the lower courts of the Judiciary.

Moraes was against the thesis of the temporal framework, which establishes the day of the enactment of the Federal Constitution, October 5, 1988, as a milestone for the possibility that indigenous people claim the areas they inhabited.

Despite being favorable to the indigenous people, Moraes’ vote was received with reservations by entities linked to them. On the other hand, representatives of farmers who may lose their land in the demarcation processes also saw problems in this vote.

For Moraes, if the thesis were adopted, it would be impossible to demarcate the lands of an indigenous community forcibly removed from the site before the promulgation of the Constitution. The minister also recognized that the issue is difficult to resolve and highlighted that no country has managed to solve the problem so far. “It is an issue that has been affecting social peace for centuries without there being, until today, a good and effective model to be followed. No country in the world has managed to fully and satisfactorily resolve this problem,” said the minister during his vote.

Voting against the timeframe benefits indigenous peoples. However, the minister proposed a thesis partially different from the votes already given, suggesting what was called a “middle ground”. Moraes’ thesis foresees that, if the traditional occupation of lands that have a legitimate domain chain is recognized, the owners cannot be harmed. In these cases, the Union must pay compensation on the total value of the properties, and not just on the improvements.

After this vote, Justice André Mendonça asked for a review of the process and the continuation of the trial was suspended once again. It is the sixth time that the Supreme Court’s review of the case has been stopped. Mendonça now has up to 90 days to return the case for trial. So far, the case already has three votes cast: two against, by ministers Edson Fachin and Alexandre de Moraes, and one in favor of the timeframe thesis, by minister Nunes Marques.

Representatives of farmers say that Moraes’ compensation is a “jabuti” and creates “confusion”

Leaders of Santa Catarina municipalities also followed the resumption of the trial in the plenary of the STF. They are from the municipalities of Saudades and Cunha Porã, located in western Santa Catarina, which has an area of ​​about 2,700 hectares required by indigenous Guarani peoples.

In the view of the mayor of Saudades, Maciel Schneider (Republicans), the vote and the proposal to establish a “medium term” indicate that the minister legislated on the subject. “He [ministro Alexandre de Moraes] began to legislate [durante o voto] saying that he does not agree with the way the Constitution was made, that it should have been done differently”, he pointed out.

Schneider also opined that the compensation for land, proposed in Moraes’ vote, does not solve the problem. “What we see here is that people don’t want to leave the land, even if they receive compensation, receiving a value for the land. People here reacted with a lot of anger [ao voto do ministro Alexandre de Moraes]”, said the mayor.

Leocir Roque Dacroce, a lawyer for the Movement in Defense of Property and Dignity (DPD), which brings together farmers from Saudades and Cunha Porã, said that Moraes’ vote created confusion and a “jabuti” on the issue of the time frame with the forecast of compensation to bona fide owners. “What he [ministro Alexandre de Moraes] did was an attempt to please the Greeks and Trojans, but it ended up creating yet another mess, a tortoise without size. Because he said it could be done, but he didn’t say who will pay or where the budget will come from to pay. It was also not said how long they will have to wait to receive for the land, for example”, criticized the lawyer.

In the municipality of Saudades, the demarcation of an indigenous land can affect approximately 50 families, which have, on average, 10 hectares each. According to the mayor, the lands have all been deeded for about 100 years and the compensation does not solve the problem. “The records were made at the time when the state of Santa Catarina granted the land so that a colonizing company, Companhia Sul Brasil, could sell the titles. All the land here has deeds and the farmers bought the land from this company. They are people who grew up here and are now in their third or fourth generation living in the same areas,” said Schneider.

Dacroce pointed out that there have already been attempts at negotiations, but the farmers have not shown interest in leaving their land, even with the possibility of compensation. “We have already had several proposals to make exchanges, for example. Our farmers do not have that intention, because our areas there were acquired in the 1920s, and all the areas were deeded”, reinforced the lawyer for the farming families.

The concern with the fate of the families was also highlighted by the lawyer. “Many people who live in these areas are already over 60 and even 80 years old. Even supposing they earn well for their small areas of land, with compensation, what will they do? Will they move to the city? If so, what will you do there? Are you going to dedicate yourself to learning a new trade at this point in your life?”, he asked.

Regarding the indemnities proposed by Moraes, the Secretary of Agriculture of Santa Catarina, Valdir Colatto, estimates that the cost – just in the indigenous land to be demarcated in Saudades and Cunha Porã – is around R$ 500 million. Currently, there are nine judicialized areas in Santa Catarina.

“He [ministro] can’t imagine the size of the account. There is no money, in Brazil or in the world, to pay these indemnities. If that’s the value in an area of ​​Santa Catarina, imagine in the whole of Brazil”, said secretary Colatto, who was once a federal deputy and state superintendent of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra).

Colatto also stated that the proposal could generate an inverse agrarian reform and criticized the PT government. “Another issue is that they are going to carry out a reverse agrarian reform. Instead of settling farmers, they are going to take them off the land. The PT said it will take care of small farmers, but it wants to expropriate, making them landless”, said Colatto.

SC seeks timeframe approval; governor met with Pacheco

The Ibirama-La Klàño Indigenous Land, of the Xokleng people, which is located in the Alto Vale do Itajaí, in Santa Catarina, is the area at the center of the action being judged by the STF. The lawsuit was filed by the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) against the current Institute of the Environment of Santa Catarina (IMA) – formerly known as the Environment Foundation (Fatma) -, after the action to repossess part of the Reserva do Sassafras filed by the state after the invasion of the area by indigenous people, in 2009, was upheld. In this case, the state of Santa Catarina defends the timeframe thesis. Therefore, the government of Santa Catarina has been directly involved in the matter.

This Tuesday (13), the governor of Santa Catarina, Jorginho Mello (PL) was in Brasília to talk to the president of the Senate, senator Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) and ask for a vote on the bill that deals with the landmark temporal. “I am personally coming to deal with this matter, as I understand that it is a case that deserves extreme attention from the Government of Santa Catarina, as it could impact the lives of millions of people from Santa Catarina”, emphasized the governor.

Pacheco heard the appeals and highlighted that he has no attachment to either side and that he understands that “maximum dialogue is needed for the PL to be effective and for the impacts to be as small as possible, both for rural producers and for indigenous people”.

Agro bench celebrates request for a view and wants a vote in the Senate

Parliamentarians who make up the agribusiness bench celebrated the request for a view made by Mendonça in the judgment on the time frame. For them, the period of up to 90 days for the resumption of analysis in the Court will guarantee the necessary time for the bill on the time frame, which has already passed in the Chamber, to be approved in the Senate.

For federal deputy Evair de Melo (PP-ES), the bill that provides for the setting of the October 5, 1988 time frame for the demarcation of indigenous lands, which has been debated in the National Congress for 26 years, encourages the peace in the countryside.

“We need peace in the countryside in Brazil. The National Congress needs to move forward in the process of regulating the law that provides for the demarcation of land in Brazil. The approval of the timeframe in the Chamber represents the willingness of a good portion of Brazilians to resolve this age-old issue. Regardless of the judgment in the STF, we need to continue with the analysis of the bill in Parliament. Our part is to legislate and [a do] Supreme [é] analyze the constitutionality. We are independent powers. It is unacceptable that this proposal stalls any longer. We are seeking more legal certainty by consolidating this law. The objective is not to wipe out the existing indigenous reserves, but to prevent false Indians from appropriating alien lands, acting in bad faith”, explained the Capixaba federal deputy.

Federal deputy Zé Trovão (PL-SC) celebrated the “new deadline” for the Senate to evaluate the bill on the subject. “The application for [no STF] it is very important, because we will gain more time to approve PL 490 in the Senate [do marco temporal]. We are going to give, once and for all, peace, tranquility and legal security to the Brazilian fields. I am very happy and confident with this news”, said the deputy from Santa Catarina in a video published on his Twitter account.

A vote against the “middle term” of compensation also did not please indigenists, but the ministry says it was “advance”

Despite being contrary to the timeframe, the “middle ground” proposed by Minister Alexandre de Moraes was received with some rejection by organizations linked to indigenous peoples. The Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (Apib) evaluated as “problematic” the vote given by the minister in the resumption of the judgment by the STF.

In a note published on its official website, the organization said that the “middle ground” vote could bring legal uncertainty to the indigenous people. “What concerns us most about this minister’s vote is the prior indemnity. This means that people can pay for the territory and already enter it. This can lead to internal confusion among relatives and legal uncertainty. Indigenous rights cannot be reconciled. There is no middle ground for us”, said Maurício Terena, indigenous lawyer and legal coordinator at Apib.

The Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi) highlighted the search for “social peace” highlighted by Moraes, but emphasized that not withdrawing the rights of indigenous peoples is an indisputable cause. “In his vote, Minister Alexandre de Moraes rejected the temporal framework, brought up the whole issue of violence against indigenous populations historically, remembering 1865 with the Paraguayan War and the Emperor’s promise, and the need to find a path of social peace. […] Not withdrawing the right of native peoples is an indisputable cause”, said Dom Roque Paloschi, president of the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi) and archbishop of Porto Velho (RO).

On the other hand, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) defined Moraes’ vote as an “advance” in a note published on the official website after the trial session. “The expectation of the MPI is that the process will be resumed as soon as possible and that the STF will exercise its role as guardian of the Federal Constitution and put an end to this unconstitutional thesis that the date of enactment of the Magna Carta is considered the deadline for measurement. of the right of indigenous peoples over their land”, pointed out the MPI.

The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, accompanied the trial of the time frame in the plenary of the STF, along with about 50 indigenous people. The STF informed that the indigenous leaders came from the Northeast, Southeast, South and North of the country, including representatives of the Indigenous Land Raposa Serra do Sol (RR).