The president () made on Friday (7) his first visit to a settlement of the (Landless Rural Workers Movement) in his third term and reinforced the left, with promises to the group historically linked to the agent and who was dissatisfied with the slow federal actions.
At a time of government under and criticism of the allied base in the face of ministerial reform, Lula announced new lots of settlements for rural workers and asked the Union’s attorney general, Jorge Messias, to provide legal support to the announced measures, as decrees of expropriations.
“Everyone knows that I have a side. Who are my friends? They are you. I never forget who they are. I know who is real friend and who is a occasional friend, just because I am president,” Lula told MST supporters.
The event began around 12 noon at Campo Grande Quilombo Camp, where MST families have lived since the late 1990s, in the municipality of Campo do Meio, in the south of. On site, the Ariadnópolis Plant worked.
The president has made the left nods in recent weeks, including the choice of PT president, for his government. The federal deputy () also became, while other parties of the base linked to the centrão, such as PP and União Brasil ,.
Datafolha survey released last month pointed out that Lula’s approval collapsed in two months, from 35% to 24%, reaching an unprecedented level to the petista in his three passages through the Planalto Palace. The disapproval is also a record from 34% to 41%.
On Friday, Lula said he found a destroyed country and “arranging the destroyed house is harder than lifting a new house.” But he promised to fulfill the campaign promises and said that this year “there is no explanation, there is no crying, we have to deliver.”
“The year 2025 is the year that we will reap everything we have prepared in the first two years. We have to deliver what we promised in the campaign. I want to finish my mandate with high morals with you. I owe my election to the people. It is for you that I must govern,” he said.
Speaking before Lula, Messiah said alongside the MST supporters that he was on site to take a message at the president’s request. He cited land titration and promised new legal support, but without detailing what kind or quoting the land invasions led by the movement.
“It has moved you, moved us now. Any demand in the court you have with you now, who will be with you fighting in court are us from the Attorney General of the Union, at the request of President Lula. You will no longer be alone,” he said.
Asked, the AGU said the minister referred to “acts announced at the ceremony.”
In the morning, buses with rural workers arrived from states such as Sao Paulo and Bahia, with movement t -shirts and caps – some also wore Cuba berets and carried Palestinian flags.
Lula began to speak around 14h, when part of the audience that accompanied the event in the sun had already left the place, and apologized for the delay.
The president took the opportunity to resume criticism of the former president () and billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X (former Twitter), without quoting their names.
“He says himself innocent but is asking amnesty before he is judged. He is actually afraid,” said Lula. “He was cowardly, plotted a blow, plotted the president’s death. And when he failed, he stuck his tail between his legs and went to Miami,” he continued, adding that the former Mandator is “a lies factory.”
Then Lula mentioned Musk. “There is even an owner of an American company, who owns one of these very strong companies there, who disseminates this news on the internet, that he doesn’t even want to respect government, he doesn’t want to respect justice. He thinks he can do everything. He can do everything in his country. Here in Brazil he will have to respect the Brazilian people,” said the president.
The trip to Campo do Meio, 335 km from Belo Horizonte, is considered a gesture of approaching the president with the MST after a series of disagreements among its leaders with government representatives.
During his speech, the Minister of MDA (Ministry of Agrarian Development), Paulo Teixeira (PT), thanked the MST. “When you press our government, you help our government,” he said.
This Friday’s ceremony took place at Eduardo Galeano School, rebuilt after being demolished in 2020, amid confrontations of the MST with the Military Police for the reintegration of inauguration at Campo Grande Quilombo Camp.
“The act where there is perhaps the largest conflict by land in the country represents the resumption of the Brazilian State. This puts us again in a harmonious relationship with the government, but the MST has its autonomy,” Silvio Netto told Ao SheetMST leader in Minas.
The federal government has announced a list of 12,297 new lots for landless farmers’ families. The land is located in 138 settlements in 24 states. They total 385 thousand hectares of land.
According to MDA, this Friday’s act also marks the resumption of decrees of expropriation for social interest for land reform.
There are seven decrees, totaling 13,307 hectares, including the area in which the act happens this Friday.
The Ariadnópolis Complex was part of the bankrupt Mass of Ariadnópolis Sugar and Alcohol S/A, which stopped operating in 1996, leaving debts with the Union and its employees. Following, camps were raised on site, forming the Quilombo Campo Grande.
Since then, the company’s bankrupt mass has tried 11 inauguration reintegrations-the latter occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the Popular School of Agroecology Eduardo Galeano was destroyed.
According to MDA, each of the 459 families of Quilombo Campo Grande has, on average, 8 hectares of land. Together, they produce and market more than 160 foods, such as cassava, beans, vegetables, corn and coffee.
The expropriations provided for in the seven decrees must benefit 800 families. Similar decrees have not been signed since 2019, according to MDA.
