Movement alleges non-compliance with agreement by the government; action takes place 1 day before Lula launches program to allocate land for agrarian reform
O MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) reported this Sunday (April 14, 2024) that it had carried out new land occupations in Pernambuco. The movement once again invaded a research area at Embrapa Semiarid, in Petrolina (PE). The property had already been targeted by the group twice in 2023.
Also in Petrolina, an area owned by the Codevasf (Companhia de Desenvolvimento dos Vales do São Francisco e do Parnaíba) which is used by Embrapa, and an area in the northern forest area of the State, a remnant of Usina Maravilha – which is being expropriated.
The actions take place 1 day before the president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) announce the Terra para Gente Program, aimed at allocating idle land to agrarian reform. A ceremony to launch the action is scheduled for Monday (15 April) at Palácio do Planalto.
The acts, according to the movement, are part of the National Day of Struggle in Defense of Agrarian Reform, also called Red April, held this month in repudiation of the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, in Pará, in 1996.
The MST did not report the number of families present in the occupations. Jaime Amorim, member of the movement's national leadership, said that the group returned to occupy the Embrapa area due to non-compliance with an agreement by the federal government.
“We occupied this area last year and left with a signed commitment from the federal government to settle all 1,316 families that were camped out. We leave Embrapa with this commitment. There were 17 points agreed and none of them were fulfilled. Now we return to Embrapa to fight for the government to fulfill the agenda established last year”he said.
The 2nd occupied area, according to Amorim, has 1,500 hectares. He claims that the earth is “completely unproductive” and that the movement demands expropriation. “Our demand is to accommodate the families from last year’s commitment, and the new families that are occupying the Codevasf area”said Amorim.
Embrapa was approached by Power360 to comment on the invasions, but has not yet commented. The space remains open.
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