The meeting between the Landless Workers Movement (MST), Suzano and Incra stalled today in Brasília due to lack of resources for agrarian reform.
As found out by CNN the Minister of Agrarian Development, Paulo Teixeira, recognized that the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) does not have the money to indemnify the company and settle the 650 families.
When contacted, minister Paulo Teixeira told the CNN that has no deadlock and will study the topic.
In this year’s budget, Incra has only R$ 2.43 million for land acquisition. The land provided for the settlement of the families is budgeted at at least R$ 40 million.
Incra also has BRL 7.87 million for the consolidation of existing settlements and another BRL 405 thousand for the recognition and compensation of quilombola territories.
MST representatives stated at the meeting that they continue to demand the installation of families, despite the lack of resources. Suzano informed that it is willing to comply with the agreement as long as it receives the amounts involved. Faced with the impasse, a new meeting between the parties was scheduled for March 16.
On February 27, the MST invaded three properties of the pulp and paper manufacturer in southern Bahia. The company obtained court injunctions for eviction, which only happened last Tuesday. Suzano had said that it would not negotiate before the MST left.
The MST pleads for the fulfillment of an agreement sealed in 2015 in which Suzano and the former Fibria (later acquired by the competitor) committed themselves to indicating rural properties to be acquired by Incra for the purposes of agrarian reform. At the time, the agreement was trying to put an end to a series of invasions in the region.
12 properties were made available, totaling 15 thousand hectares. In current values, these areas are equivalent to R$ 200 million. Incra only acquired 2 of the 12 properties and paralyzed the process.
In a note, Suzano informed that, “after the eviction of the lands, it is willing to advance in a joint solution for the solution to the subject”. The MST maintained, also in a note, that it considers “the instrument of land occupation a legitimate form of protest” and that “it hopes that the signed agreements will be quickly implemented”.
Brazilian legislation prohibits land invasion and determines agrarian reform only on unproductive properties through compensation. Minister Paulo Teixeira said, after the meeting, that “the government respects private property”.
Source: CNN Brasil
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