MST says “dissatisfaction with the government is great” and considers invasions

The national coordinator of the Landless Movement (MST), João Paulo Rodrigues, said this Saturday (23) that there is great dissatisfaction with the Lula government on the part of the movement. One of the MST’s demands since the beginning of the year is that the government buy more land to be used for “agrarian reform”.

However, there is a new reason for dissatisfaction: according to Rodrigues, there is a slow pace in the purchase of family farming products by the National Supply Company (Conab), which is part of the government. The movement expected a greater volume of purchases through the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) – a measure that increases food purchases from cooperatives, most of them controlled by the MST, by public bodies.

“Until now, the government has not purchased a kilo of food from family farming within the PAA. Families are preparing for this, planting with this expectation. There is great dissatisfaction,” he told Folha de S. Paulo the national leader of the movement, who does not rule out a resumption of protests by activists.

“My concern is that at some point families will start to make a national complaint, taking to the road, stopping highways, for example. A day of occupations is not planned at the moment, but there is already a complaint that we will need five mandates from the Lula to complete the agrarian reform process”, he states.

Despite carrying the banner of agrarian reform, the MST is against the titling of public lands for farmers. The movement defends that land titles should be collective and not private – in practice, this model allows much more space for movement leaders to use the lands and maintain their influence in the settlements. De facto titling, which is what interests small producers most, is rejected by the movement, as it would reflect a growing decline in power for the group.

MST leader has previously criticized the Lula government

João Paulo Rodrigues is one of the MST’s main spokespersons when it comes to public criticism of the Lula government. He was the author of the phrase, in February, that he was “starting to turn on the yellow light” in the relationship between the landless group and the government. At the time, he complained about the delay in appointing the new president of the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra).

Despite the criticism, the activist is very close to Lula and several high-ranking members of the executive, and frequently meets with representatives of the Executive to demand benefits for the movement he represents. The MST was one of several social movements that supported Lula’s candidacy and, after the PT’s victory, began to seek government positions for their representatives.