Records of conflicts in the countryside in Brazil had a slight drop in the first half of this year in , but remain at the highest levels, according to a report published by the CPT (Pastoral Land Commission) this Monday (2).
According to the organization, the balance stood at 1,056 cases, compared to 1,127 last year. The commission gathers in this data the episodes of invasions, expulsions, evictions, threats, destruction of property or shooting suffered by families in the countryside.
The partial balance in this second year of Lula’s (PT) government is also the second highest recorded in a series since 2015, second only to last year. In 2021 and 2022, the final years of the government (), the CPT recorded 749 and 950 incidents of conflicts in the countryside in the first half of the year, respectively.
Of the total number of cases, there are 872 conflicts over land, in addition to 125 over water and 59 registered cases.
In relation to disputes over territories, a smaller number of cases were also recorded compared to 2023, when 938 incidents were recorded by the organization — 94.5% of cases were related to the occupation and possession of disputed land.
Violence resulting from contamination by pesticides had the biggest increase among the records, going from 19 last year to 182 now, an increase of 858%. According to the CPT, most of these cases occurred in , where communities were suffering consequences from aerial spraying of poison.
The CPT also highlights that squatters were the biggest targets of violence in the first half of this year, involved in 235 conflicts. They are followed by indigenous people, with 220, quilombolas, with 116, and landless people, involved in 92 cases.
The biggest causes would be farmers, involved in 339 conflicts, in addition to businesspeople, with 137 incidents, the federal government, with 88 cases, state governments, registered in 44 conflicts, and land grabbers, with 33.
Last year, records broke a record, with 2,203 occurrences in both semesters. According to the CPT, the number is the highest since 1985, when the organization began receiving and counting complaints.
The Pastoral Land Commission is a non-profit entity linked to the CNBB (National Conference of Brazilian Bishops). Created in 1975, it works on agrarian issues across the country, providing technical advice, popular education activities and studying conflicts.
