MST invades three farms in Bahia after vacating an area owned by Embrapa in Pernambuco

Members of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) invaded, this Sunday (23), three farms in Bahia hours after leaving an area occupied by Embrapa last week, as part of the actions of the so-called “Red April”.

According to information released by the movement itself, the invasions took place in the municipalities of Guaratinga and Jaguaquara, in the south of the state, with 118 and 200 families, respectively; and in Juazeiro do Norte, in the north region of Bahia, with another 200 families. The movement asks that the three farms be used for agrarian reform.

In addition to the invasions, the MST also started this weekend what would be a kind of “training” of militants in states in the Southeast and Northeast regions. “Militants will be dedicated to the study and challenges of forming a brigade of national character, for the projection of MST leaders in the next period”, said the movement in a note.

The invasion of the three new areas in Bahia took place the day after the beginning of the eviction of a unit of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) in Pernambuco, where 600 families were relocated to nearby land.

Despite being a historic supporter of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), the invasion generated criticism from parliamentarians and government ministers, such as Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development), Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Relations) and Carlos Fávaro (Agriculture).

Vacancy of Suzano’s farm may occur this week

On the other hand, the evacuation of the farm belonging to the multinational pulp company Suzano, in Aracruz (ES), is expected this week, starting on Thursday (27).

The area was invaded last week along with other properties in states like Pernambuco, São Paulo and Minas Gerais. The movement calls for the acceleration of agrarian reform projects.

According to MST members, the eviction of Suzano’s areas in Espírito Santo was agreed after a meeting with the state government and representatives of the Ministry of Agrarian Development, the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), among other bodies.

In principle, the eviction should have started this weekend, but it was postponed after the Military Police stated that there were “no objective conditions to carry out the eviction following the necessary legal protocols”, it said in a note from the movement.

Among the conditions was the lack of an area to provisionally settle the 200 families that participated in the invasion. A new meeting scheduled for Tuesday (25) will define the place to house the workers after the eviction action.

The meeting that defined the evacuation of the Suzano area also agreed that short and medium term planning will be carried out for the settlement of the thousand MST families camped on farms in Espírito Santo.

With the invasions this Sunday (23), the movement already has 32 actions this year alone.