2023-06-14 21:40:49
At a meeting last week at the headquarters of the Land Institute Foundation of the State of São Paulo (ITESP), 30 quilombola leaders from 18 communities in Vale do Ribeira (SP) questioned the delay in completing the land titling processes and the frequent stoppage of these procedures upon renewal of management positions at the institution.
“It takes a long time. We need work that really gives continuity, it cannot stop”, defended Edvina Silva (Dona Diva), from Quilombo Pedro Cubas de Cima.
In São Paulo, ITESP is responsible for identifying and titling quilombola lands overlapping state public lands for land regularization purposes, as well as providing technical assistance and support for the socioeconomic development of communities.
With the administrative reorganization of the state government after the election of Tarcísio de Freitas (Republicans), the institute was removed from the Department of Justice and relocated to the Department of Agriculture and Supply of the State of São Paulo (SAA).
The meeting was attended by representatives of ITESP, in the figure of the Executive Director, Guilherme Piai Filizzola, the Quilombos Advisor, Andrea Aparecida Prestes João, the Deputy Director of Development Policies, Edson Alvez Fernandes, and the Deputy Director Land Resources, Thiago Francisco Neves Gobbo, in addition to the Coordinator of Policies for the Black Population of the State Department of Justice, Robson Silva Ferreira and representatives of the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA) and the Team for Coordination and Advice to Black Communities (EEACONE).
The unjustified absence of the Secretary of Agriculture and Supply of ITESP, who had confirmed his presence, was considered disrespectful by the quilombola representations, as well as that of the Director of ITESP, who left the meeting before the end to grant an interview.
The State of São Paulo has its own legislation for the title of quilombola territories since 1999, but until now, only six quilombola communities have been partially titled and another 36 officially recognized communities are fighting for the final guarantee of their territorial rights. At this pace of work, it would take the government of São Paulo 144 years to partially title all the quilombola territories in the state.
“How long will ITESP take to title all our territories? How many generations of quilombolas will pass until we have our territories fully titled? The struggle for the completion of the administrative processes for titling these traditional territories has been going on for more than 20 years and, so far, no administrative measure has been adopted that is significantly capable of moving forward with these processes”, questions the EEACONE in note on social networks.
“135 years have passed since the formal and inconclusive abolition of slavery, as well as another 35 years since the enactment of the Federal Constitution that recognized the right of quilombola communities to obtain titles to their territories. This unconstitutional state of affairs directly violates the right to a reasonable duration of proceedings provided for in art. 5, LXXVIII of the Federal Constitution”, emphasizes Fernando Prioste, popular lawyer at ISA.
The leaders recalled that, once titled, the territories that have areas occupied by third parties need to go through the removal process. With all the documents referring to the territory in hand, quilombolas from Vale do Ribeira have an instrument to combat environmental racism.
The Quilombolas also demanded the elaboration of a State Land Regularization Plan for all Quilombola territories in the state, with performance goals and defined deadlines, and the establishment of periodic meetings with the Quilombola representations for the continuity of the dialogue on the titling of the territories.
ITESP representatives were also warned about the duty of prior, free and informed consultation with the quilombola communities, as established by the Protocol of Prior Consultation of the Quilombola Territories of Vale do Ribeira.
Prior Consultation is a fundamental right of traditional peoples and communities, according to Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), and underpins the guarantee of other rights, such as the self-determination of peoples and traditional territory.
At the end of the meeting, Guilherme Piai committed to working to recompose ITESP’s technical team and budget, and to resume the conversation at a new meeting, which was scheduled for September 16, this time in Vale do Ribeira.
“The ITESP representatives present gave vague answers, stating that they had already requested the budget increase in general and that they are about to partner with the private sector, without detailing how this would happen, but they committed themselves to resuming the discussions of the Management Council to proceed with the request”, registers EEACONE in the publication.
On the same day, representatives of quilombola associations in the Ribeira Valley met with representatives of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA).
Productive meeting with INCRA
**Note published by EAACONE on 06/07/2023
We were well received at INCRA by Superintendent Sabrina Diniz, as well as by Mauro Baldijão, head of INCRA’s Land Division, Elvio Motta, from the Coordination of the Ministry of Agrarian Development (MDA) in São Paulo, and Luciano Delmondes de Alencar, head of division at the State MDA.
We presented our demands to INCRA, pointing to the issue of titling traditional territories as a priority. We emphasize that land regularization actions are not advancing and are experiencing setbacks. In the last six years almost nothing has been done.
As a priority, we demand the resumption of dialogue tables between the communities and INCRA, which are spaces where the institute and the communities meet periodically to discuss the progress of the titling processes. We also plead for the realization of a State Plan for the Title of Quilombola Territories, where the existing demand is pointed out and what would be the necessary actions for all Quilombola territories to be titled in a reasonable period of time, as determined by the Federal Constitution. We also demand access to public policies that help agricultural production, such as access to credit and rural technical assistance.
INCRA gave a positive signal regarding the demands presented, stating that it understands that the resumption of dialogue tables is necessary and appropriate, and that the elaboration of a state plan for titles, with objectives, targets and indicators helps to organize the State’s actions and monitoring the progress of public policies by communities.
The Superintendent of INCRA stated that the institution is experiencing great difficulties, ranging from the lack of financial resources for the actions to the disruption of the institution’s administrative organization. But these difficulties must be overcome soon, and that transparency, dialogue and commitment to the quilombola agenda will be structuring axes of actions.
The MDA representatives present at the meeting stated that the Ministry is in the process of structuring, and that an MDA office should be opened in Vale do Ribeira, to facilitate dialogues and carry out actions through the resumption of citizenship territories.
We believe that this first conversation with INCRA and the MDA was productive, but that from now on actions need to be resumed so that the rights can be implemented in practice.
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