3,000 Brazilian Landless Take Over Farm in the Federal District

MST, is Brazil's Landless Workers Movement More than 600 families, about 3,000 people, from Brazil's Landless Movement occupied an abandoned farm, "Toca da Raposa" ("Fox's Den"), in the early morning hours of Monday, January 29th, and have installed themselves in the place. These same families had been the target of a violent operation carried out the previous week by the Brazilian Military Police.

Toca da Raposa is located in Planaltina, in Brazil's Federal District, 30 km away from Brasí­lia. The families occupying the farm demanded the redistribution of its land, and the acceleration of the agrarian reform process throughout the state.

The farm includes 1200 hectares of land, and is located on Highway BR-020, which links the Federal District to the state of Bahia. Over the last three years it has been occupied three times by rural workers. "It's a giant plantation, according to the standards of the region where it's located," said MST member Flávio Silva.

The plantation-manager attempted to present a legal title to part of the farm, but his documents were declared invalid by the institute in charge of official surveys. The other part of the farm belongs to the agency that manages public lands in the state.

The 600 farmer families will stay on the farm until it is officially taken and used for the purposes of agrarian reform. The land belongs to the public authorities and was being used illegally by Mário Zinatto, the above-mentioned owner of the false documents.

The MST has requested a meeting with José Roberto Arruda, governor of the Federal District from the PFL Party, to discuss the redistribution of the land and the creation of a settlement there for rural workers. For more than two years, 80 families have lived in camps next to the farm, along the sides of the highway.

"The negotiations process with INCRA (the federal agency responsible for agrarian reform) didn't make any progress during our meeting last week. So the workers will remain mobilized," said Silva.

During the last three years, INCRA (the National Institute for Settlements and Agrarian Reform) has not settled a single MST family in the region. More than 2,000 families are currently living in encampments in the Federal District.

Background

On Friday, January 26th, the MST families currently on the farm were attacked by 80 military police. Using violent means, the police invaded an encampment in the "Sete Rios" ("Seven Rivers") farm. The Sete Rios farm is located in the Flores de Goiás municipality, Santa Maria district.

The police arrived in 13 patrol cars, broke open the gate, and began firing over a wide area. Surprised, the men, women, and children of the encampment attempted to flee the violence.

The military police battalion involved in the incident did not have a judicial order to evict the families at the site. After the arrival of lawyers, the Agrarian Advocate, the regional INCRA management, and state parliamentary inspectors, the landless farmers were allowed to go free.

On Saturday, January 21st, the farm laborers were at the "Ilha Bela" ("Beautiful Island") farm. They left to avoid a confrontation with police officers who had an eviction order. The MST also asks for the expropriation of that land, which measures approximately 3,700 hectares and is currently abandoned and unproductive.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazilian Justice Sends Governor to Jail and Population Celebrates on the Street

José Roberto Arruda, the governor of Brasília, has spent the night in prison after ...

Brazilian Chicken Exports Grow 20%

Brazilian chicken exports amounted to 231,871 tons in March, for revenues of US$ 256.8 ...

Cover of At Home in Rio by Paulo Thiago de Mello

From Slums to Mansions: a Full-Body Portrait of Rio, Brazil

"Quiet talks and quiet dreams/Quiet walks by quiet streams/And the window looking on the ...

Saudi Mission Looks for Raw Material in Brazil

During their visit to Brazil, the executives of three great state-owned companies of Saudi ...

Brazil Advances in 2005, But It’s Still Far from Investment Grade

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s economic team ended 2005 celebrating the indicators ...

Best Performance in Seven Years for Brazil’s Small Businesses

Revenues of micro and small businesses in the southeastern Brazilian state of São Paulo ...

Brazilian Indian Leaders Go to Brasí­lia Looking for Justice

Four leaders of the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples, who live in the southeastern state ...

Brazil’s Food Co-op to Export 35% of Its Production

The Middle East has been importing chicken from the Central Cooperative of Western Santa ...

Brazilian Indians in Washington for Indian Museum Opening

The United States Ambassador to Brazil, John Danilovich, received leaders of the Sujá, Kaapor, ...

15th Movelsul Brazil, LatAm’s Largest Furniture Fair, Expects 33,000 Visitors

Movelsul Brazil 2006, the largest international furniture fair in Latin America, will be held ...