With MST CPI, land invasions plummet in Brazil

Invasions of properties promoted by the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) and others have had a significant drop since the beginning of the works of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI), which has been investigating these acts. According to a survey carried out by the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA), only one land invasion was recorded after the installation of the CPI. It is a productive farm in Santa Cruz do Rio Pardo (SP), 350 kilometers from the capital of São Paulo.

From January to May 2023, the first months of the third government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT), 56 invasions of public or private land in Brazil were recorded. The number is very close to the total number of invasions recorded in the four years of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) term, when 62 were recorded.

In the evaluation of the president of the CPI, deputy Lieutenant-Colonel Zucco (Republicanos-RS), there were clear results of the actions of the parliamentarians in the investigation of the alleged crimes committed by the MST and other movements. “Yes, there was a stoppage of invasions and the CPI intends to create mechanisms so that these invasions no longer occur. We intend to present legislation that will bring security and peace in the countryside. We will also show the crimes involved, in these property invasions, ”he said.

“We are still analyzing breaches of secrecy and requests for information, testimonies and summons that will show that trespassing is a crime. It is only up to the federal government, through Incra mechanisms, to distribute land to the Brazilian people”, Zucco highlighted.

Governing base, which supports the MST, minimizes the effects of the CPI

Despite the facts, in an interview for the newspaper The globe, congresswoman Sâmia Bomfim (PSOL-SP) said it was too early to draw conclusions about the effects of the CPI. “The occupation fronts ended up being suspended at that moment. But that does not mean that the logic of the occupations has been permanently suspended”, pointed out the parliamentarian, who defends the movements in the CPI.

Along the same lines, the Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture (MDA), Paulo Teixeira, stated that the government acted before the CPI. “The month of April was the month of demonstrations. There, we asked that the demands be forwarded and that this would be the best way to deal with them. The agreement was prior (to the installation of the CPI). The government gave the message before the CPI”, said Teixeira also to the The globe.

In the face of this, Zucco refuted the minister’s speech and said that he would have tried to justify the actions of the MST. “It is an unfortunate speech and, in a way, irresponsible, the statement of a minister who tries to justify the invasions, whether in Carnival or in Red April. He should be the first to condemn any kind of trespassing. Incra exists to lead the settlements and it is not up to the minister to want to reduce the problem of invasions, which are the result of possessory dispossession, in that way”, pointed out the president of the CPI of the MST.

“Zero Invasion Package” to curb MST actions

At the end of the works of the MST CPI, a report will be presented with all the actions, meetings and diligences promoted within the scope of the commission. Along with the report, parliamentarians will release what Zucco called the “Zero Invasion Package”.

The projects foresee the loss of benefits from social programs to those who invade properties and the classification of violent acts against public and private properties as terrorism. Other actions are still being discussed and were not disclosed by Zucco and his peers at the MST’s CPI.

The “package” is the result of concern about a possible resumption of invasions after the end of the work of the CPI. Therefore, the opposition deputies that make up the collegiate work to present legislation that prevents actions by the movements.