The main national leader of , João Pedro Stedile, tells the Panel that the movement is tired of promises made by the Lula government since he took office two years ago.
“No longer are propaganda, rhetoric, events and actions at the Palace enough. We want concrete measures that solve real problems”, he tells the Panel, in an email interview.
He is skeptical that a package planned by the Minister of Agrarian Development, Paulo Teixeira, for the end of this year would aim to calm the movement.
purchase and transfer of land from large Union debtors to , in addition to resources for technical assistance for settlers.
“They’ve been talking about ‘packages’ for two years. They announced the so-called ‘land shelf’ and so many other promises packaged as Christmas presents”, he declares.
In a recent interview with Brasil de Fato, Mr. he said that there is no country project in the Lula government, and that the rural poor have not yet been included in the Budget. Why does this happen, in your opinion, and what measures need to be adopted in the short term? The victory of the broad front with Lula at its head was fundamental for us to defeat the extreme right, fascist and irresponsible.
However, this was not enough for us to have unity in the government, around the construction of a country project. A project focused on objectives that guide all ministries and government actions.
So, despite Lula’s good will, public policies are not reaching the poorest, on the outskirts and in the countryside.
An example: we need to coordinate measures that actually reach the 70 million workers who are in the informal sector, creating employment and income programs, based on the reindustrialization of the country to mass produce the goods that the population needs.
The 4 million poorest peasants also did not have any public policy to address poverty. Each popular sector has short-term proposals for the government, but they have not been developed.
Mr. he also says that members of the Ministry of Agrarian Development and Incra are incompetent. Would changing these people, changing the minister and the leadership of the body, for example, solve anything, if the guidance comes from the government in general? Any person or collective that holds positions in the government, in the private sector and in movements and is unable to satisfactorily perform the tasks to resolve demands is incompetent.
Our criticism is not personal. It is a criticism of the government’s insufficient actions. There was no expropriation. We have 72 thousand families camped out for years waiting, waiting…
We have 70 Pronera higher education classes [Programa Nacional de Educação na Reforma Agrária]which cost R$100 million and the government is unable to meet. Anater [Agência Nacional de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural] has not received a single cent for Ates so far [Programas de Assessoria Técnica, Social e Ambiental] in the settlements.
There were no resources for housing to meet the needs of the settlers. The PAA [Programa de Aquisição de Alimentos] has been insufficient. These are some of the deficiencies. The performance of the MDA and Incra superintendencies in the states is, to say the least, shameful.
It is a government that allocated more than R$30 billion this year in tax relief for large companies — It cannot say that it does not have resources for the poor.
We have scheduled a working meeting with President Lula to review the agreements we made in a broad meeting on August 14th at Granja do Torto so that he knows what is happening and helps us resolve it. The impression we have is that, in general, ministers do not tell the president the truth.
Minister Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development) recently said in an interview with Folha that he is betting on a package of measures at the end of the year that involves the purchase and adjudication of land and more resources for technical assistance for settlers. Like mr. evaluate these promises? They’ve been talking about “packages” for two years. They announced the so-called “land shelf” and many other promises packaged as Christmas gifts.
A small example. The minister held a public event in São Paulo to announce the Rural Administration course through Pronera at UFSCAR [Universidade Federal de São Carlos] six months ago. The course doesn’t cost a penny. And UFSCAR doesn’t want to start. So, more propaganda, rhetoric, events and acts at the Palace are no longer enough. We want concrete measures that solve real problems. And problems, when not resolved, only get worse.
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