01/27/2024 – 17:22
For the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the resumption of agrarian reform is a way of tackling poverty in Brazil. According to one of the members of the movement's national coordination, Jaime Amorim, the redistribution of unproductive land could be a way of guaranteeing income for families who currently live without minimum conditions.
“Agrarian reform is an alternative to tackling poverty. If the government wants, the cheapest, easiest way to guarantee jobs for people is agrarian reform. There is no cheaper policy for generating work and employment”, he said this Saturday (27), during the closing of the MST national coordination meeting, which took place throughout the week.
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The event was also a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the social movement.
This rural production model has, according to Amorim, great potential to generate occupations and income that go beyond the settlers.
“Because when you settle down [concede terras] a family, you are not creating a job. You are employing or providing work for the whole family. In addition to harvesting and planting, it always uses the labor force of the people who live around it.”
Amorim criticized, however, the lack, to date, of guidelines for distributing land to families willing to work in the field. “Unfortunately, there is still no government agrarian reform program that determines the goal, that determines the structure. We had a very bad year, with no funds for agrarian reform”, he complained during the press conference in which the coordination disclosed the MST's views based on the debates of the last few days.
Violence
The organization of armed groups to combat movements of peasants and indigenous populations is a point of concern for the MST.
“We need to denounce what this effective attempt has been, not just an attempt, but an effective organization of this militia in the Brazilian countryside, which is this movement that they have called Invasion Zero. So this is an affront to democracy, this is an affront to the legitimate right of popular organization and the struggle for land and popular struggles in our country”, highlighted Ceres Hadich, who makes up the national leadership of the MST.
Last Sunday (21), a Pataxó hã-hã-hãe community was attacked by a group of men who attempted to forcibly retake a farm occupied by indigenous people and claimed as traditional territory. According to the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), the attack that resulted in the death of a woman was planned by a group calling itself Invasion Zero.
Despite the violence, the MST does not show any intention of giving up traditional methods of struggle, such as land occupations and demonstrations.
“We will continue fighting for agrarian reform, carrying out massive occupations. Let’s go on the road, let’s go for a walk to say first, there is unproductive land and there is a lot of it”, emphasized Jaime Amorim.
Dialogue with society
In addition to the political dispute, Ceres believes that publicizing the production of families settled by agrarian reform helps society understand the role of the MST.
“Without a doubt, this very concrete symbolism of food reaching people's tables has helped in this process of dialogue with Brazilian society,” he says both about the direct sale of products at the movement's fairs and stores, and in the donations made by producers.
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