The (Landless Rural Workers Movement) demanded this Friday (20) a visit by the president () to the movement’s settlements, reinforced criticisms about the lack of progress in the country and promises of invasions across the country in 2025, but avoided asking for departure by Minister Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development).
In their annual report, members of the movement’s national leadership, which has exchanged criticisms with the Lula administration, stated that they support the government unconditionally. At the same time, they demanded the delivery of new settlements and changes to the political and communications agenda.
“Don’t take this as a criticism, but it is not reasonable that in two years President Lula has not made any agenda in a settlement or in an area of family farming,” said João Paulo Rodrigues, leader of the MST.
At the beginning of the month, in protest against the Lula government’s agrarian reform policy, .
This week, in an interview with the Panel, from Sheetthe main national leader of the MST, João Pedro Stedile said that .
This Friday, Rodrigues stated that there was a formal invitation for Lula and minister Paulo Teixeira to visit a settlement next year. The movement’s expectation is that the meeting will serve to announce deliveries of new settlements by 2026.
According to director Ceres Hadich, the numbers so far cause concern and it is necessary for the current management to make a change in the next two years.
“Today we have no more than the prospect of settling between 9 and 10 thousand families at the end of this year and beginning of next year. In fact, since last year, no family has gone to land, as President Lula says”, he stated.
Despite the charge, when questioned by Sheet regarding the relationship with minister Paulo Teixeira and whether the movement defends his replacement, the leaders said that the decision is up to Lula and reinforced the demand for settlements.
“The ministerial reform is up to President Lula to carry out, but we as a social movement have expressed our unified opinion and made the necessary criticisms in relation not only to the Ministry of Agrarian Development, but to the government as a whole”, said Hadich.
“If there is no commitment, a conception, a solidity, a unity of action in relation to agrarian reform, it makes no sense to have a ministry, a minister, or anyone else taking care of this aspect. For us, this is central”, he concluded.
For 2025, mobilizations of women are planned from March 8th and invasions in April for the settlement of 60 thousand families. “We won’t accept anything less than that next year,” said Rodrigues.
Since the beginning of the Lula government, the MST has demonstrated dissatisfaction with the speed of the agrarian reform processes, demanding more settlements and conditions for camped families. The movement says that there has been no progress on the issue for more than ten years.
MST leaders also demanded that the government change its position regarding the elections in Venezuela, recognizing the victory of dictator Nicolás Maduro. Rodrigues said that Lula was wrong in not defending the country’s entry into Brics.
“Venezuela is a democracy. Venezuela has to be respected and we think that President Lula is wrong in not helping to incorporate Venezuela into the BRICS. We respect President Lula’s sovereign position, as well as respecting Venezuela’s sovereign position. We want the president recognizes Maduro’s victory,” said Rodrigues.
The leader of the movement also criticized the signing of the agreement between the oea, which according to the movement should bring significant losses to small farmers in the country.
“It is an agreement that has no prospect of improving the lives of small farmers, on the contrary. We are going to run the risk of having the market for family farming products being competed against by a market much more powerful than ours, which is Europe”, said Rodrigues.
