Mother and son, former member and member of the MST, are reunited

Former member of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), Vanuza dos Santos de Souza, who testified before the MST’s Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI), returned for the first time to her former home, inside a settlement in Bahia . Accompanied by deputies from the MST CPI, Vanuza also found her son, Cássio Souza Santana, who is a member of the MST and even recorded a video disqualifying her mother’s statements.

The reunion took place during a diligence by the CPI, which sought to investigate places invaded by the MST in Bahia. Vanuza saw again the house built on a lot that she says was handed over by Deputy Valmir Assunção (PT-BA), and from which, after ‘choosing to be free’ from the MST, she was expelled after being tortured and kidnapped by MST members . In videos released by the CPI deputies, it is possible to see the son Cássio, alongside other members of the MST, in his mother Vanuza’s old house. The former member of the MST, in tears, questions her son about the complaints she made to the CPI. “Tell me, son, that I am fake news”, referring to a video that Cássio recorded after his mother’s testimony at the MST’s CPI.

Dressed in a red MST shirt, Cássio said, during the stage, that his mother was being used by congressmen at the CPI. “You know they are just using you to attack the movement. How many courses did you take for the movement? How many things did you win through the movement? Did she travel?”, asks Vanuza’s son. “I traveled because I had to”, replied the mother. Afterwards, Deputy Marcon (PT-RS) interrupted and thanked Cássio with a thumbs-up. “Yes, young man”, says the PT deputy.

Supported by deputies Luciano Zucco (Republicans-RS) and Messias Donato (Republicans-ES), Vanuza leaves her son’s side. “He’s not there because he wants to be. I can’t prove it, but I know. He’s a bargaining chip against me. I know, I’m a mother. I know the character I gave my son”, said Vanuza as she walked away from her old home and her son Cássio.

Diligence carried out investigations into MST invasions

For two days, Thursday (24th) and Friday (25th), deputies from the MST’s CPI were in Porto Seguro and Prado, in the south of Bahia, to investigate in loco the facts reported during testimonies given in Brasília. In addition to the reunion of former MST member Vanuza with her son, the deputies were able to see up close some of the mentioned invasions. One of the facts is that local MST leaders live in houses with good structures, fenced and well located. The other settled members, on the contrary, live in houses in precarious conditions, or even under tarps, often without access to water, sewage or electricity.

In addition to the president of the CPI, Deputy Zucco, the rapporteur, Deputy Ricardo Salles (PL-SP), and Deputies Messias Donato, Marcon, Valmir Assunção, Captain Alden (PL-BA) also took part in the process.

Before the deputies’ trip, still on Wednesday (23), the Federal Police even denied security escort to the delegation of the CPI of the MST, during the diligence in Bahia. However, after pressure, the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, determined that the Federal Police guarantee the safety of the entourage of the MST CPI summit.