Brazil: “Red April” – Landless Workers’ Movement invades farms, and federal agencies

By Hélio Costa Jr

The Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) has invaded at least nine farms and the headquarters of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) in seven states.

The actions started on Saturday (15), with the occupation of eight farms in Pernambuco, including areas in the metropolitan region of Recife, Zona da Mata, Agreste, and Sertão.

Embrapa said that the lands are part of “Embrapa Semiárido” and are used for experiments and the multiplication of genetic material.

The invasion also reached caatinga preservation areas, compromising the life of endangered animals and research for environmental conservation and sustainable use of the biome.

The company stated it would take appropriate measures to solve the situation.

In the early hours of Monday (17th), about 200 families occupied an area in Aracruz, Espírito Santo state.

The MST claims that the farm belongs to the state government’s property and would have been squatted by Aracruz Celulose, a company acquired by Suzano in 2018.

Suzano has not yet made a statement about the invasion.

On the same morning, Incra headquarters in Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, Ceará, Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio Grande do Norte, and the Federal District were also invaded.

In Bahia, families protested at the entrance of the Legislative Assembly, where they participated in a public hearing with about 400 people, discussing the increase of violence in the countryside.

Bahia state parliamentarians collected signatures to create a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) to investigate land invasions in the state, but the MST CPI has not yet been installed.

With information from Brasil Sem Medo

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