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In
September 2004, an MST survey showed that only 5440 families
from MST encampments had been settled on land since the
beginning of the Lula government. Data from the Agrarian
Reform Auditor indicates that from January to August of this
year the number of land occupations increased 47% in relation
to the same period last year, reaching a total of 271.
Violence
in the Countryside and Land Reform
Maria Luisa Mendonça and
Roberto Rainha
This
article analyzes violence in the countryside and land reform
during 2003 and part of 2004. In 2003, the inauguration of the
Lula government created great expectations. According to the
Pastoral Commission on Land (CPT), “The year 2003 began with
the euphoria of hope that can overcome fear. The rural workers
believed that the time had come for a profound change, that
Land Reform would finally happen.”
At
that time, the CPT attributed a large number of mobilizations
to this expectation. In 2003, the occupations and encampments
reached a total of 676, involving 124,634 families or around
623,170 people. The number of people who participated in the
demonstrations was estimated at 481,023. The total number of
conflicts reached a never-before-seen level: 1690 conflicts,
involving around 1,190,578 people.
In
2003, the number of killings of rural workers grew 70% in
relation to 2002, reaching a total of 73. The number of
eviction notices -- 35,297 families involving around 176,485
people -- was also at a record high in 2003, an increase of
263% in relation to 2002. The number of imprisonments was also
140% higher than in 2002.
In
April 2003, the CPT diagnosis was that “the hopes deposited
in the Lula government are being transformed into doubts, or
even deception. No one is ignorant of the immense
difficulties, barriers, and impediments placed by the elite
classes on this government. Although the federal government
adopted a new posture in relation to the rural movements, not
treating them as criminal movements outside the law, as
happened in recent years, it also did not carry out a true
land reform.” According to the CPT, the number of families
settled on land during 2003 and 2004 was “laughable”.
In
September 2004, an MST survey showed that only 5,440 families
from MST encampments had been settled on land since the
beginning of the Lula government. The government claims to
have settled 70,100 families since January 2003 but these
numbers are contested by the social movements. According to
the MST, 14,000 families were settled in 2003 and only 7,000
families in the first three months of 2004. The majority of
these settlements did not benefit families in encampments,
because they were concentrating on regularizing their
ownership status.
Even
the data from the National Institute of Colonization and Land
Reform (INCRA) indicates that perhaps the government did not
succeed in fulfilling its goal of settling 115,000 families in
2004. In August, the government stated that it had settled
33,300 families, only 29% of the goal. According to official
data, in 2003, the government settled only 36,800 of the
announced goal of 60,000 families.
On
the other hand, data from the Agrarian Reform Auditor
indicates that from January to August of this year the number
of land occupations increased 47% in relation to the same
period last year, reaching a high of 271.
Killings
in
2004
Data
from the CPT from January to August of 2004 indicates that 20
rural workers were killed, nine of them in Pará, three in
Pernambuco, two in Maranhão, two in Paraná, two in Piauí,
one in Mato Grosso and one in Paraíba.
2004
Killings
|
|
|
State
|
Municipality
|
Name
of the conflict
|
Name
of the Victim
|
Date
|
Category
|
Description
|
|
1
|
MA
|
Aldeias
Altas
|
Povoado
Jaburu
|
José
Borges da Silva, 67
|
1/21/04
|
Rural
worker
|
Killed
with 67 knife wounds. Had
his genitals cut off. The rancher Matias would let his
cattle onto the workers’ planted area. During one of
these incidents, José Borges reacted, tying up one of
the rancher’s young bulls. The rancher swore
vengeance.
|
|
2
|
MA
|
Nina
Rodrigues
|
Vila
Boa Esperança/PA Mangueira
|
Evaldo,
20
|
2/6/04
|
Settler
|
Killed
in an ambush. The
main suspect is
João Pinto, an ally of the rancher
Francisco Gomes da Silva. It is said that this
rancher has an interest in acquiring part of the area of
PA Mangueira, which has created conflicts in the
settlement. The victim had ties to the MST.
|
|
3
|
MT
|
Rosário
do
Oeste
|
Ass.
Marzagão
|
Joaquim
Rosa da Cruz,39
|
1/2/04
|
Settler
|
The
land belongs to the Union but in July 2003, Clorisvaldo
Rodrigues returned possession to the rancher José
Roberto Cerri. Since then, death threats in the
settlement are constant and the conflict is imminent.
|
|
4
|
PA
|
N.
Reparti-
mento
|
Gleba
Capivara
|
Eudes
|
1/20/04
|
Landless
worker
|
Eudes
was working in the Pontal Madeiras Sawmill, in Maracajá.
The owner, Sr. Francisco, known as “brother”, had
Eudes killed for not paying for his service in the
lumber yard. Eudes was camped in the Gleba Capivara, at Km 220 of the Transamazônica highway.
|
|
5
|
PA
|
N.
Reparti-
mento
|
Gleba
Capivara
|
Gil
|
1/20/04
|
Landless
worker
|
Eudes
and Gil were
both working in the same Sawmill (Serraria Pontal
Madeiras), in Maracajá. Gil
was killed for the same reason as Eudes.
|
|
6
|
PA
|
Redenção
|
Faz.
Santa Eliza
|
Ezequiel
de Morais Nascimento
|
1/29/04
|
Leader
|
Ezequiel
was president of the Workers Association of the Fazenda
Stª Eliza. The fazenda has been occupied for 8 years by
30 families of small farmers. For some time, large
landowners infiltrated the area with the goal of seizing
the land (with false papers) Among these, Sra. Terezinha
Boeck. At various times early in 2003, Ezequiel made
accusations of violence against the workers that had
been ordered by these land-grabbers and with the support
of the police. For this reason he received death
threats.
|
|
7
|
PA
|
Rondon
do
Pará
|
Ligado
a vários conflitos
|
Ribamar
Francisco dos Santos
|
2/6/04
|
President
of Syndicate
|
The
president of the Rural Workers Syndicate of Rondon (PA),
Ribamar Francisco, had his name on a list of those
“marked for death” and had been receiving threats
for weeks. Nothing
was done by the police about his complaints. For
this reason, CONTAG proposes that crimes committed in
the struggle for land be investigated by the Federal
Police and tried by the Federal Courts. “The judiciary
cannot continue as an extension of the large
landowners”, stated Manoel dos Santos, president of
CONTAG.
|
|
8
|
PA
|
Pacajá
|
Assentamento
Arapari I
|
José
Ribamar Ribeiro, 45
|
#####
|
Settler
|
According
to the CPT agents in
Tucuruí-PA, this was a conflict over land, but
it was not possible to obtain more information.
|
|
9
|
PA
|
Tailândia
|
Ligado
a vários conflitos
|
Epitácio
Gomes da Silva
|
3/23/04
|
Leader
of MTRI
|
There
are two versions of the crime. The civil police state
that the cause of the killing was a robbery, but the
representatives of the rural workers’
movements in the region believe that it was a
death ordered by the ranchers and lumbermen. At the end
of 2003, Epitácio along with representatives of other
municipalities founded the Movement of Independent Rural
Workers (MTRI). The MTRI was mobilizing workers,
organizing to begin to occupy land in the region, which
displeased many landowners, lumbermen and land-grabbers.
|
|
10
|
PA
|
N.
Reparti-
mento
|
Assentamento
Redenção
|
José
Antonio P. de Souza, 45
|
Mar/04
|
Settler
|
This
was a case of a conflict in the area between P. A Redenção
and Gleba Capivara. No
other information is known.
|
|
11
|
PA
|
N.
Reparti-
mento
|
Vicinal
4 Paracanã
|
Gaspar
|
5/3/04
|
Rural
worker
|
The
rancher Alexandre ordered Gaspar killed for two reasons:
for not paying a fee
for clearing the land, (R$2500.00) and in order
to take over Gaspar’s lot, which was next to his
ranch. Gaspar was living alone, he did not have a
family.
|
|
12
|
PA
|
Novo
Progresso
|
Gleba
Curuá
|
Adilson
Prestes,26
|
7/3/04
|
Pastoral
assistant
|
For
two years, Adilson was threatened with death because he
denounced the land-grabbing and illegal exploitation of
mahogany.
|
|
13
|
PR
|
Planaltina
do
Paraná
|
Faz.
Sta. Filomena
|
Elias
Gonçalves de Moura,20
|
8/28/04
|
Landless
worker
|
Killed
with a shot in the neck in a confrontation between the
MST and the security guards on the Sta. Filomena ranch,
in Planaltina, during the occupation of that area. The
rancher Francisco Carvalho Ramos awaits the judge’s
ruling and says that he has already submitted a request
to retake possession of the land.
|
|
14
|
PB
|
Mari
|
Faz.
Olho D'Água
|
Antônio
Carlos da Silva,64
|
4/19/04
|
Land
owner
|
Antônio
Carlos was supporting the struggle of the MST workers
for the expropriation of the Olho D'Água ranch. He
was killed by two body guards when he was returning to
the ranch. The MST lawyer, Dr. Rogério Machado accused
a group of gunmen (belong to a private militia) of being
active in the region of
Mari and Sapé.
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|
15
|
PR
|
Guairacá
|
Faz.
Sta. Filomena
|
Elias
Gonçalves Moura, 20
|
7/31/04
|
Landless
worker
|
Elias
was killed by gunmen who opened fire on 400 families,
who were camped near Sta. Filomena
ranch. Various people were wounded. The
landless occupied the ranch after the conflict.
|
|
16
|
PE
|
Catende
|
Tabaiaré/
Usina
Catende
|
Eraldo
José
da
Silva
|
3/18/04
|
Leader
|
Eraldo
José da Silva was the president of the Association of
Residents of Tabaiaré,
of the Catende Plant. In
2003, he had coordinated an occupation of the plant.
Soon afterwards, he began to receive death threats and
suffered an assassination attempt when his car was hit
with a number of gunshots. The MST accuses the plant
administrator who had already threatened Eraldo.
|
|
17
|
PE
|
Moreno
|
Assentamento
Herbert de Souza
|
José
Rosendo da Silva
|
3/21/04
|
Leader
|
José
Rosendo, leader of the Herbert de Souza Settlement, was
killed with three shots in the back. He had been having
misunderstandings with lumbermen of the region who were
cutting down trees in the settlement reserve area. The
settlement is coordinated by the Organization of
Struggle in the Countryside.
|
|
18
|
PE
|
Amaraji
|
Engenho
Retalhos
|
Rivaldo
José
da
Silva, 24
|
5/30/04
|
Landless
worker
|
Rivaldo
was killed in an ambush near where he lived on the
Retalhos mill, that is in being expropriated. The
owner of the mill is in conflict with the 11 families
camped in the area.
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19
|
PI
|
Joaquim
Pires
|
Fazenda
Papagaio
|
Maria
Betânia,34
|
7/29/04
|
Land
owner
|
Maria
Betânia and Manoel de Jesus were killed by two
unidentified gunmen . They
were the leaders of 40 families who struggled for the
expropriation of the
Papagaio Ranch. Currently reacting against the
sale of the property to a group of southern businessmen,
who are interested in planting soybeans for export.
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20
|
PI
|
Joaquim
Pires
|
Fazenda
Papagaio
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Manoel
de Jesus, 33
|
7/29/04
|
Land
owner
|
See
Maria Betânia, above.
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TOTAL
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20
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Source:
Documentation Sector of the CPT National Secretariat
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Source: CPT.
Note:
There was a killing in SC on 03/26/04 and in AC
on 02/24/04, both are being investigated by CPT agents.
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On
September 19, Josenildo Severino da Silva was killed, a member
of the MST Health Sector in Pernambuco. He was killed with 15
stab wounds by two unknown men.
The
Myth of Agribusiness
Another
concern of the social movements is the strengthening of
agribusiness, which makes carrying out land reform more
difficult and stimulates violence against the workers.
Support
for big producers, who make monoculture a priority for export,
has been a mark of the Lula government. This policy creates a
distorted image as if agribusiness created jobs and income for
the population. In reality, this sector benefits only a small
number of producers and multinational businesses. According to
an MST study, properties over a thousand hectares employ only
600,000 salaried workers and possess only 5% of the national
fleet of tractors. The small properties employ 13,000,000 of
family farmers and more than one million salaried workers, and
use 52% of Brazil’s entire fleet of tractors.
Agribusiness
is responsible for serious social and environmental problems
and is regularly accused of using slave labor. Currently the
production of soy and cattle ranching are the main ones
responsible for the destruction of the forests in the Cerrado
as well as in Amazônia. According to the International
Conservation Organization, the Cerrado has an annual rate of
deforestation of 1.5%, which represents 7,300 hectares per
day. Of the 204,000,000 original hectares, 57% were already
completely destroyed. This process may result in the total
destruction by 2030. In Amazônia, the cattle-ranching sector
was responsible for 80% of the 23,700 kilometers deforested in
2003.
“Red April”
The
year 2004 was marked by the MST’s large mobilization called
“Red April”.
In
a message published during that period, the MST demands that
their right to mobilize be recognized and it cites data to
justify their actions:
1.
Around 26,000 large landowners, who represent less than 1% of
the 5 million landowners, are the owners of 46% of all the
land in Brazil. For this reason, Brazil is one of the
countries with the greatest concentration of land ownership.
2.
The Brazilian Constitution states that properties that do not
fulfill a social function relative to productivity, with
respect to the environment and to workers’ rights must be
expropriated by the government and distributed to the workers.
According to the National Plan for Land Reform developed by
the Ministry of Agrarian Development, there are 55,000 rural
properties classified as large unproductive properties,
containing 120 million hectares which should by law be
expropriated.
3.
There are around 4.6 million landless families in Brazil. A
recent study by the Getulio Vargas Foundation shows that 33%
of the Brazilian population (56 million people) lives in
misery.
4.
The government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1994-2002)
claimed that it had settled 620,000 families in eight years.
However, a joint study carried out by the University of São
Paulo and the Ministry of Agrarian Development verified that
only 358,000 families were settled on land during this period.
5. During the FHC government, a
large TV campaign was broadcast to encourage the landless to
register by mail so that they would not have to organize with
the MST and occupy lands. 880,000
were registered but until now, none of them has been settled
on land.
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