MST invades Embrapa area in PE for the third time – 04/14/2024 – Power

The MST (Landless Rural Workers Movement) announced this Sunday (14) the reoccupation of an Embrapa (Brazilian Agricultural Research Company) farm in Petrolina (713 km from Recife) that had been invaded twice last year. Two other actions were carried out in Pernambuco, according to the entity.

The movement alleges that the federal government did not fulfill its commitments to settle the families who left the area in July last year.

“We only left with the federal government’s commitment, signed in an agenda to settle all 1,316 camped families. We left with Embrapa with this commitment, with 17 points agreed and none were fulfilled. We returned to fight for the government to fulfill the agenda agreed in the last year”, said Jaime Amorim, from the MST’s national directorate, in a video released by the entity.

“The way they are treating agrarian reform is very irresponsible.”

When contacted, Embrapa did not respond until the publication of this report.

The Embrapa farm in Petrolina was invaded for the first time in April last year. The MST’s action at the time strained the MST’s relationship with the Lula government, which toughened statements against the movement after the episode.

At the time, the wave of invasions angered the president, who feared that the actions would cause strain on the government, especially with agribusiness. There was also fear that the mobilization would disrupt the progress of agendas of interest to the Lula administration in Congress.

In July, the Embrapa farm was invaded again days before the Semiarid Show. The fair, which usually takes place in August, presents new technologies for family farmers in the region, and usually receives more than 20 thousand people from different states in the Northeast.

Minister Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development) said at the time that the invasion had been a protest by members of the movement who were “anxious”.

“They [Integrantes do MST] They were anxious, they made that protest, but they already left. The fair is taking place, anxiety has reduced because accounts have been provided of all the measures that will be adopted. So, life moves on,” he said at the time.

In addition to the settlement of families, the MST demands the transformation of the advanced unit of Incra (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform) in Petrolina into a superintendence.

“It is necessary to guarantee this step to restructure Incra in the region”, stated Amorim in the video distributed this Sunday.

In addition to the Embrapa farm, the MST claims to have occupied an area of ​​1,500 hectares belonging to Codevasf (Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Francisco e do Parnaíba) used by Embrapa in Petrolina, and the other in the forest zone in the north of the state, in a remaining area of ​​Usina Maravilha, which has been in the process of expropriation since 2014.

“We have this guarantee of guaranteeing the expropriation of the debtor plants as a whole. And not announcing the expropriation of just the mills. This is favoring the mill owners”, stated Amorim.