In protest against the government’s environmental policy, families from the Landless Rural Workers Movement began invasions in Rio Grande do Sul and Pará this Tuesday (3).
Early in the morning, around 170 families occupied two farms in the Rio Grande do Sul municipality of Pedras Altas, in the southern region of the state.
The group came from the Sebastião Sales camp, in the neighboring city of Hulha Negra, and settled in areas that, together, cover 2,000 hectares. Pedras Altas City Hall reported that it is monitoring the situation.
Around 200 people from four MST camps began a vigil at the headquarters of Incra (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform).
One of the protesters’ demands is that the government speed up inspections and land purchases to settle around 1,500 families camped in Rio Grande do Sul.
The MST is dissatisfied with the conduct of agrarian reform processes by the federal government. According to the movement, there has been no progress in more than ten years. Named Christmas with Earth by the movement, the national action should continue in the coming days.
Incra management in Rio Grande do Sul scheduled a hearing with family representatives for this afternoon and is expected to make a statement in the next few hours.
Already in members of the MST blocked the Carajás railway in Parauapebas, in the early hours of this Tuesday.
The protest, called Journey of Struggle for Rights and Popular Agrarian Reform, extends across 11 municipalities in a stretch of approximately 950 km between Parauapebas and São Luís, in Maranhão.
According to the movement’s directory in Pará, the objective is to denounce the actions of the mining company Vale and the failure of public authorities to defend the region’s natural resources.
In a manifesto published on social media, the landless people call for the adoption of a set of measures that include the return of land by Vale for the settlement of families by Incra, the creation of a social development fund financed by CFEM (Financial Compensation for Mineral Exploration) to mitigate the impacts of mining and the construction of 10 thousand popular homes in Parauapebas.
They also ask for a minimum income program of R$1,000 for vulnerable families, in addition to investments in reforestation and agroecology and reparatory actions by Vale. Wanted by Sheetthe company has not yet commented.
