Ruralist leader: ‘land shelf’ has no news – 04/16/2024 – Panel

Announced by the government to stop the Red April of the MST (Landless Rural Workers Movement), the “land shelf” did not bring any news and has points that cause concern for ruralists, says the president of the FPA (Agricultural Parliamentary Front), deputy Pedro Lupion (PP-PR).

The agrarian reform program was launched by President Lula (PT) this Monday (15) and brings together 17 legal alternatives to obtain and make land available — the so-called “shelves” —, including the purchase of properties from banks and public companies and negotiating with states indebted to the Union in exchange for land.

Lupion argues that some measures are already provided for in Brazilian legislation, such as how the government can acquire land for agrarian reform.

But he sees other points of concern, in particular one that deals with the “expropriation of rural properties where illegal cultures of psychotropic plants are located or exploitation of labor in conditions analogous to slavery”.

“It’s worrying. You will remember, for example, the case that occurred in Rio Grande do Sul, during the grape harvest. There was an accusation from the Public Prosecutor’s Office that was not proven to be slave labor. You have to understand what they are, what the regulations are of this and how it will get there at the end”, he argues.

“There must be a final and unappealable decision. Everyone has the right to a full defense and we will not hold anyone’s hands who are doing something wrong. However, there must be a legal and correct process so that they can have access to these areas and lands .”

The deputy also states that all the measures presented require a reasonable amount of money to be implemented.

“It’s an important cost. Paying for land, buying land, expropriation has to be compensated, the area has to be assessed, the improvements have to be compensated. The settlement has to be structured, roads built. It’s not just throwing people there. Then you build a favela. It has to have streets, it has to have everything, right? So, where is this money going to come from?”, he asks.

For him, if the government really wanted to carry out agrarian reform, it should first title all existing settlements. “In the last government there were something around 420 thousand titles. And these titles all went to agrarian reform settlers”, he states.

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