Lula government omits and MST returns to invade lands in Brazil

After the return of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to the Planalto Palace, the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) reopened the season of invasions of private rural properties across the country. There has still been no public pronouncement by Lula on the episodes. The silence of the President of the Republic could increase the weariness of the government with the members of the agribusiness bench in the National Congress.

Deputies from the Agricultural Parliamentary Front (FPA) also criticize the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro (PSD), for minimizing land invasions and making nods to the movement. On another front, parliamentarians intend to charge the Ministry of Justice, commanded by Flávio Dino (PSB), to adopt measures to prevent the MST’s land occupations from continuing.

In addition to the resumption of land invasions just over two months into the Lula government, members of the MST are already pressing the president for more space within the Executive. In recent days, for example, the movement has made the Planalto region dissatisfaction with the absence of a nominee for the presidency of Incra, an agency subordinate to the Ministry of Agrarian Development, commanded by PT Paulo Teixeira.

With regard to MST actions, the most recent episode took place earlier this week. Around 1,700 members of the group announced the invasion of at least four farms in southern Bahia. Three of these farms are cultivated with eucalyptus by the company Suzano Papel e Celulose. According to the MST, the invasions are a denunciation against the monoculture of eucalyptus in the region, which has been growing in recent decades.

In a note sent to People’s Gazette, the company stated that the acts violate the right to private property and are subject to the adoption of judicial measures to repossess these areas. “Specifically in the south of Bahia, the company generates approximately 7,000 direct jobs, more than 20,000 indirect jobs and benefits around 37,000 people through the income effect”, highlighted Suzano. The company has already obtained an injunction in court to repossess one of its farms.

Before that, at least ten farms in the interior of São Paulo had already been invaded by militants from the National Fight Front Campo e Cidade (FNL). This group is an MST dissidence and has a history of proximity to the PT.

MST puts pressure on Lula over his influence within the federal government

Members of the MST claimed that one of the consequences of the lack of appointment to Incra was the permanence of appointees by the previous management in charge of regional superintendencies. After pressure from the MST, the folder decided to nominate career civil servant César Aldrighi to command the body.

“Without an appointment, we have no dialogue with the government. The ministry takes care of the general themes of family farming, but the land issue is with Incra. We need an indication of the direction to resume the agrarian reform program”, defended João Paulo Rodrigues, of the national coordination of the MST.

The movement even appointed the former attorney general of the government of Paraná, Carlos Frederico Marés, to head Incra. But the name ended up being vetoed by the Planalto Palace.

As a career employee, Aldrighi maintained a good relationship with the MST, according to a member of the movement. The nomination, however, was not seen with great enthusiasm by the militants. Now, the group’s expectation is to expand influence in Incra’s state superintendences, through the nominations of allies.

Questioned about recent land invasions by the group, Incra said in a note that inspection or actions for eviction are not part of its attributions. “Incra is open to dialogue with social organizations. However, there is no negotiation about the case that occurred in Bahia”, he said in a note.

Invasions generate criticism of Lula’s Agriculture Minister in Congress

At the same time, the resumption of land invasions by the MST may increase the government’s attrition with members of the agribusiness bench in the National Congress. The group has approximately 240 deputies in the House and at least 40 senators in the Senate.

The Agricultural Parliamentary Front (FPA) recently met in order to create bridges with the government to prevent the sector from suffering damage over the next few years. According to the group, issues such as property rights, demarcation of indigenous lands and tax reform are sensitive issues at the moment.

Vice-president of the Northeast region of the FPA, deputy José Rocha (União-BA), assessed that the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro (PSD), needs to pay attention to episodes of invasion, as they create legal uncertainty. The head of the portfolio, however, has so far minimized the cases that have already been registered in the country.

“I think the minister has to pay a lot of attention to this. He has been making statements favorable to this position of the MST. [Isso] goes against what is intended for legal security, more investments and the improvement of our country’s economy”, said the deputy.

Still according to him, it is necessary to demand from the Ministry of Justice, commanded by Flávio Dino (PSB), an effective action by the Federal Police to put an end to the invasions of private lands in the country. The parliamentarian also did not rule out other measures to be taken by the bench in Congress, such as, for example, calling Fávaro.

For the leader of the bench, deputy Pedro Lupion (PP-PR), there is leniency on the part of the public power in relation to MST invaders. “Who cares about this loss of opportunity, income and rural jobs? Who cares about the return of land conflicts, a new war in the countryside? Invading productive property is a crime, but we have seen leniency with those who commit these acts. Why? ’ he questioned.

Along the same lines, federal deputy Luiz Ovando (PP-MS) stated that the “Red Carnival”, the name given to the new cycle of invasions coordinated by the FNL in the interior of São Paulo, was just the beginning. According to him, “the return of the landless was certain with Lula’s victory”.

“They [invasões] generate conflicts between landowners and landless movements, which can lead to episodes of violence and financial losses. These conflicts can also have negative impacts on the local economy, affecting agricultural production and job creation”, he highlighted.

Fávaro waves to the MST during an act at a camp in Paraná

Despite this, the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro, has minimized the episodes of land invasions by the MST so far. Last weekend, during an event at a camp in northern Paraná, the head of the ministry stated that there is an “unfounded prejudice against the MST and that needs to change.”

“It is necessary to play an important role, which is to end the prejudice that exists in this country against the MST. The MST is a legitimate movement with a dream for the land. We are here to convey President Lula’s message that family farming will be highly valued in this government”, he defended.

Fávaro was at the Fidel Castro camp accompanied by the Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (MDA), Paulo Teixeira (PT), and the president of the Workers’ Party, Gleisi Hoffmann.

“Family farming is as competitive as corporate farming. The difference is that it needs the State’s helping hand more. very important for family farming. I will always be a great defender of you”, declared Fávaro at the time.

A People’s Gazette sought out the Ministry of Agriculture to inquire about the invasions of farms in southern Bahia. The folder, however, did not manifest itself until the closing of this matter.

The Minister of Agrarian Development, Paulo Teixeira, stated that he is taking part in the negotiations for the MST to leave Suzano’s properties. At an event in Planalto, the minister stressed that the government will try to resolve the situation “through dialogue”.

“We are planning a meeting with Suzano and the MST next week. This is the route we have already taken today in relation to this conflict in the south of Bahia. A conflict that we are going to try to resolve through dialogue, through conversation and re-establish a negotiation that, according to them, was interrupted 10 years ago”, he said. The statement was published by the newspaper The globe.

The number of MST invasions grew during the Lula and Dilma governments

During the campaign, Lula nodded to the Landless Movement, and said on one of the occasions that the MST is “no longer the same as it was 30 years ago”. “The MST is doing an extraordinary thing, it is taking care of production. I don’t know if you know, but the MST today has several cooperatives. The MST is the largest producer of organic rice in Brazil. You have to visit an MST cooperative. That MST 30 years ago no longer exists,” said Lula during the National Newspaper.

The petista also stated that the movement “only invaded unproductive lands” and that the members of the group would be doing a “favor” for the landowners by accelerating the expropriation process. The statement, however, contradicts the numbers of MST invasions in productive lands during the Lula governments and former president Dilma Rousseff.

In 2003, the first year of the Lula government, the number of property invasions by landless people skyrocketed in Brazil. That year, from January to July, there were at least 171 land invasions and at least 18 murders resulting from agrarian conflicts, according to data from the then Ministry of Agrarian Development.

In all, there were 75 records in the Northeast, followed by the South (34) and Southeast (34), Midwest (23) and North (5) regions. In the first seven months of 2004 alone, the 18 murders in the countryside were already 80% higher than the total recorded in 2000 (10). Compared to 2001, there were 14 murders, an increase of 28%. In all of 2002, there were 20 deaths linked to land conflicts.

At the end of Lula’s first term, in 2006, a report by the National Agrarian Ombudsman showed that in the first three years of the Lula government, the number of land invasions was 55% higher than that recorded in the 36 months of Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s (PSDB) administration. . In the same period, the number of murders due to agrarian conflicts increased by 63%.

In 2009, already in Lula’s second term, the movement was responsible for invading a farm in the interior of São Paulo and destroying about a thousand orange trees. At the time, the Cutrale company, responsible for the farm, issued a note stating that the property was extremely productive and generated hundreds of jobs. In addition, he also stated that some of the employees’ families, including those with children, were expelled in an intimidating manner by the invaders, which jeopardized the access of minors to the school.

In all, there were 1,968 land invasions during former President Lula’s two terms. In the Dilma administration, the number dropped to 969. In 2013, during the PT government, militants who participated in the March for Agrarian Reform even destroyed laboratories at the Federal University of Alagoas.

In 2015, members of the MST occupied a company’s research center in the interior of São Paulo and destroyed about a thousand seedlings of transgenic trees that were the subject of research. Regarding this episode, the MST justified the action as a denunciation of the supposed “evils of transgenics” to the environment and in defense of “food safety and healthy foods”.

They argued, for example, that the eucalyptus species being developed at the research center would increase water consumption by up to 30 liters per day for each seedling.