Brazil’s Zero Invasion Movement gathers 10,000 rural producers to confront the Landless Movement in Bahia

By Aline Rechmann

At least 10,000 landowners in Bahia are monitoring areas to protect themselves from the action of groups like the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST).

Distributed in approximately 200 cities, they have formed the Zero Invasion Movement.

The rural producers in Bahia claim to suffer with the insecurity in the rural areas and with the lack of actions by the state government to curb invasions.

The group says that it does not act armed.

The idea is to pressure the landless with groups much larger than the invaders, who go to the site of the invasion as soon as the landowner asks for help.

The Zero Invasion Movement was created in Bahia in April due to an escalation in the number of invasions and the lack of reaction from the local government.

The last survey by the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), published at the beginning of April, registered 16 invasions in three months.

• The invasions happened on three farms belonging to Suzano Papel e Celulose in the municipalities of Teixeira de Freitas, Mucuri, and Caravelas,
• an office of the Companhia de Ferro Ligas da Bahia (Ferbasa), in Maracás,
• and farms in Macajuba, Jacobina, Guaratinga, Jaguaquara, Juazeiro, Rafael Jambeiro, Jeremoabo, and Itaberaba.

The number rose to 19 in late April when the MST confirmed the invasion of three farms in Bahia after it vacated an area of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) in Pernambuco.

The landowners, led by Ilhéus farmer Luiz Uaquim, are also mobilizing on a national level, seeking the support of politicians in Brasilia and encouraging the creation of similar groups in other states.

The Bahia Secretary of Public Security told the report that it tries to avoid the occupations and that in some cases it manages to remove the invaders through dialogue, without judicial determination.

THE FORMATION OF INVASÃO ZERO WAS SPONTANEOUS, SAYS MOVEMENT LEADER

Luiz Uaquim, leader of Invasão Zero, highlights that the planning was spontaneous, organized by WhatsApp.

“We came across situations where 20 to 30 people arrived wanting to invade a property with only two people. We called the police, but they didn’t come. We looked for support from the state government, and there was no return. Then we decided to organize ourselves”, said Uaquim.

Today, the group is organized into 16 nuclei that pass on information to a central nucleus, which, in turn, receives and passes on what is sent.

The nuclei were formed according to the proximity of the cities and the accessibility through highways.

“Any different movement near the properties, we get to know about it.”

“If we identify any threat, we mobilize, notify the police and go to the location.”

“But it is all peaceful; there are no weapons, and we apply pressure and ask the invaders to leave.”

“Now, if they are 50, we are 300”, he detailed.

In one of the actions carried out by the Zero Invasion Movement, Uaquim reports that a couple, cocoa producers in an area of 23 hectares, were surprised by invaders wanting two houses that are on the property.

“The wife asked them to move away, but when we arrived, they were there.”

“And they say they don’t invade farms under 70 hectares.”

“We arrived, surrounded them, and said, ‘leave, come on, please leave; this is not yours’.”

“I went to the police before, and the major said he wouldn’t go there.”

“It is so absurd that you can imagine that we are in a state of exception, not a democratic state of law,” reported the movement leader.

The reporter contacted the MST to ask their point of view about the Zero Invasion Movement, but until the closing of this story, there was no reply.

The formation of the group was motivated by a lack of government action

The landowners claim that the government and the security forces in Bahia have been omissive in the face of the invasions.

For this reason, they were forced to defend themselves by launching the Movement Zero Invasion.

Luiz Uaquim also said that in some cases, like an invasion in the municipality of Jaguaquara, the police even went to the site but only circumvented the situation and did not remove the invaders from the property.

“Why is the governor of Bahia [Jerônimo de Souza (PT)] silent? ”

“At such a tense moment that is happening in Bahia. In exchange for what? Why is there no invasion in Goiás?”

“Because the governor says that there are no invasions there.”

“Why isn’t there any in Mato Grosso? Why is Zé Rainha [leader of the National Front of Land and City Struggles (FNL)] in jail in São Paulo?

Questioned about the statements that indicate omission and the actions taken against the invasions, the Bahia Secretary of Public Safety (SSP) responded with the following note:

“The SSP emphasizes that the state security forces always act seeking to prevent any type of occupation. In some cases, with dialogues mediated by military and civil police officers, the properties are vacated without needing a court order.

Producers in Bahia prepare a dossier and a draft bill to be delivered to Congress.

The leader of the Zero Invasion Movement, Luiz Uaquim, pointed out that Bahia’s producers are preparing a dossier on the MST’s actions in the state.

“We are gathering indications and denunciations to present in a dossier for the CPI [Parliamentary Inquiry Commission] of the MST,” he said.

The MST CPI was created but has not yet begun to work.

They are also working to present to the members of the Parliamentary Front for Agriculture and Livestock (FPA) a draft bill to modify Law 4.504, known as the Land Statute.

“The law deals with agrarian reform, but it is out of tune with today’s Brazilian agribusiness. It dates from 1964”, Uaquim pointed out.

Besides the MST’s CPI in the House of Representatives, the land invasions in Bahia also motivated the creation of a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission (CPI) in the Legislative Assembly of the State of Bahia (Alba).

The CPI should be installed in the next few days to investigate the MST invasions in the state. Initially, however, the CPI was barred by the presidency of the Assembly.

Despite having met the requirements for installation, the president of the Assembly, state deputy Adolfo Menezes (PSD), dismissed the request of deputy Leandro de Jesus (PL) based on an opinion of the Legal Prosecutor of the House.

The argument used is that the CPI would involve matters of private legislative competence of the Union.

AN INJUNCTION IN COURT GUARANTEED THE INSTALLATION OF THE CPI IN BAHIA

Congressman Leandro de Jesus, however, appealed to the Justice and had his request for an injunction accepted by Judge Cássio Miranda.

In his decision, signed on May 4, the magistrate also determined the immediate installation of the MST’s CPI at the state level.

“With this decision, we hope that the CPI will be installed by next Tuesday, May 16,” said the congressman.

After the decision, the president of the Assembly said that the injunction was “undue interference” of the Judiciary in the attributions and prerogatives of the Legislative.

“We will answer all the questions contained in the injunction, but we will appeal, because I see in the measure an undue interference of the Judiciary in the attributions of the Legislature,” declared the president of the Assembly, Adolfo Menezes.

The CPI should be composed of eight members.

According to the “tradition” of the Legislative House, the presidency should stay with the proponent, Leandro de Jesus.

It will have 180 days to present conclusions and may be extended for an equal period.

Leandro de Jesus said that the CPI would seek to hold those involved in the invasions accountable.

“Our focus will be to investigate the authors, the executors, and the financiers of the invasions occurring here in Bahia. We will look for all those directly or indirectly involved in the cases to hold them accountable,” said the parliamentarian from Bahia.

CONGRESS MEMBERS TRY TO CREATE A MIXED PARLIAMENTARY FRONT INSPIRED BY ZERO INVASION

Inspired by the Zero Invasion Movement initiative, the federal congressman Lieutenant-Colonel Zucco (Republicans-RS) announced the creation of the mixed parliamentary front Invasão Zero (Zero Invasion).

In two days of collecting signatures, the congressman managed to get the support of 55 congress members.

For the Parliamentary Front to become effective, 198 signatures from deputies and 17 from senators are required.

The intention is also to encourage the creation of state fronts in the Legislative Assemblies.

According to Zucco, who is nominated to chair the MST’s CPI in the House, the initiative of Bahia’s producers will be strengthened with the creation of the Zero Invasion Parliamentary Front.

“We will bring the House and Senate into this debate permanently. Those who omit themselves or encourage these illegal movements must be punished with all rigor”, he highlighted.

The idea is to spread the initiative to the states so that each has its own structure for mobilization and articulation.

“Each state front, in turn, will mobilize society through class entities, such as rural unions, trade associations, and all those who want to join this debate.”

“We need to show that there is zero tolerance for this type of crime from now on,” said the congressman.

News Brazil, English news Brazil, Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST)