Minister Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development) gave reason to the complaints that the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) has been making to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) for the delay in settling more families and implementing public policies requested by them.
In mid-August, the movement met with the president at Granja do Torto, in Brasília, where they made a series of demands – still unfulfilled, according to the group. The MST intends to request a new meeting with Lula by the end of the year.
“They are right to complain, it is their role. And mine is to deliver [realizações]. Dom Angélico Sândalo Bernardino already said that politics is like beans, it only cooks under pressure”, said the minister in an interview with Folha de S. Paulo published this Saturday (9).
Information from the investigation indicates that the MST requests, among other demands, the departure of Teixeira from command of the ministry and César Aldrighi from the presidency of Incra.
The minister, on the other hand, countered by saying that the paralysis of agrarian reform was a consequence of the previous governments, Michel Temer (MDB) and Jair Bolsonaro (PL). “Now we’re back, and we’re back strong,” he said.
According to Teixeira, a land acquisition plan worth R$500 million is already underway in 2024. In addition, another R$700 million will be obtained through the award of land to large debtors, and Banco do Brasil must give up areas valued at R$500 million.
Teixeira also highlighted that R$1 billion in credit lines were opened for agrarian reform, with another R$500 million coming from Pronaf A, aimed at strengthening family farming. He also mentioned the launch of the Desenrola Campo program, which provides for debt renegotiation, with forgiveness of up to 90% of small farmers’ debts.
Among the demands presented to the government, the MST requested a target plan to settle 70,000 families by December, in addition to a budget for land acquisition. The movement also demanded the payment of a liability of R$400 million relating to the Food Acquisition Program (PAA) for family farming and the inclusion of R$2 billion in the 2025 budget for new purchases through the same program.
At the beginning of the year, Lula launched the “Terra da Gente” program, a type of “land shelf” to anticipate MST invasions and present settlement alternatives, involving public lands, private lands through purchase or debt adjudication.
According to Palácio do Planalto reported at the time, the budget foreseen for 2024 would be R$520 million for the acquisition of properties, benefiting 73 thousand families. By 2026, 295 thousand families must be included in the National Agrarian Reform Program, with 74 thousand settled and 221 thousand recognized or regularized in existing settlement lots.
