Farmers ‘occupy’ MST invasion to remove landless in Bahia – 03/04/2023

With a convoy of vehicles pulled by a sound car, a group of farmers and farm workers “invaded” a camp set up in an area invaded by the Movimento dos Sem Terra (MST) to demand the departure of the invaders, on Friday afternoon. fair, 3, in Jacobina, inland Bahia. There was a threat of confrontation, which was averted by the arrival of the Military Police. In smaller numbers, the landless left the place, but camped in another part of the property.

Fazenda Limoeiro is one of four rural properties invaded on Monday, the 27th, by the MST, in the first wave of occupations coordinated by the movement during the new government of President Lula. The other three, in the south of the state, belong to the Suzano company and two of them have already had court repossession injunctions granted. The Pires family, owner of Limoeiro, also filed a reintegration action, but there has been no court decision yet.

Farm owners and employees organized themselves into rural unions in the region and headed to the invaded farm in a convoy of cars and trucks. Even a bus was mobilized for transport. With the sound car, the ruralists asked the landless to leave the area to avoid a conflict. The PM sent several vehicles to the scene. The police formed a barrier between the protesters and the landless. Part of the producers mobilized in the demonstration decided to remain camped on the farm. Police vehicles also remain on site.

According to the national leader of the MST in the state, Evanildo Costa, to avoid conflict, the landless removed their shacks and left the place, but camped in another part of the farm. He said that the atmosphere remained tense in the region. The MST alleges that the farm is unproductive. Grandson of the owners, Felipe Pires said that his grandparents’ property has a strong tradition in livestock.

On Wednesday, the 1st, the Federation of Agriculture and Livestock of Bahia (Faeb) sent a letter to the Secretary of Public Security, Marcelo Werner, asking for measures to be taken regarding the invasion of Limoeiro. This Friday, the federation informed that the intervention of rural producers in defense of Fazenda Limoeiro was peaceful.

There is a climate of distrust in the sector regarding the guarantee of legal security in the countryside. The invasions, with two months of government, contradict the speech of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) in the campaign. The PT member went so far as to say that the MST did not occupy productive properties, such as Suzano’s areas.