Brazil: landless workers movement vacates invaded properties in Bahia, and Minister seeks agreement

The company Suzano Pulp and Paper informed on Tuesday (7) that the Landless Workers Movement (MST) has left all the properties in southern Bahia that it had invaded last week.

According to the manufacturer, the areas in the municipalities of Mucuri, Teixeira de Freitas, and Caravelas have been released.

The company is now investigating the damage caused by the MST.

After the invasions, the Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture, Paulo Teixeira (PT), scheduled a meeting this Wednesday (8) with representatives of the MST and Suzano to try to recover the agreement made in 2015.

At the time, the court determined that Suzano should indicate land for about 450 MST families.

The portfolio holder had already announced that he would mediate the negotiations between the movement and the company.

The meeting will occur at 2 pm, at the folder’s headquarters.

The repossession occurred one week after the invasion of the properties.

To justify the invasions carried out last Monday, the MST pointed out issues such as the water crisis, rural exodus, and alleged damage to the region due to the use of pesticides by the company and also criticized the eucalyptus monoculture.

The company emphasized that the MST’s exit from the lands occurred in a peaceful and organized way, in compliance with the decision of the Bahia State Court of Justice, on Monday (6), which determined the repossession in the municipalities of Caravelas and Teixeira de Freitas.

With the eviction, about 80 families went to a settlement near the invaded area.

There has still been no public statement by President Lula about the episodes.

The movement has also criticized the new PT administration concerning the agrarian issue and the lack of definition of Incra’s state superintendents.

According to the organization, more than 100,000 families throughout Brazil await the regularization of the lands on which they are settled.

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The Novo Party in the Chamber presented, on Tuesday (7), a request for information to Minister Paulo Teixeira about the denunciations of the MST’s invasion of productive private lands.

In presenting the request, the leader of the New in the House, congresswoman Adriana Ventura (Novo-SP), criticized the MST’s action and said they should act within the law.

“The MST leaders should demand agrarian reform from the government. They can’t invade private properties to force expropriation. They must act within the law. It is unacceptable and anti-democratic”, said the congresswoman.

In the request, the parliamentarians question what measures the MDA and the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) are taking to curb and prevent new invasions.

In addition, the legend asks if the ministry will take steps to hold the invaders responsible for the damage caused to the farms.

The request also includes a request for the agency’s position on the MST’s justification in Bahia, which alleged that the lands are “eucalyptus monoculture plantations”.

Members of the opposition to Lula’s government and the ruralist caucus in the Chamber are also articulating to opening a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) to investigate the land invasions promoted by the MST.

With information from Gazeta do Povo