Landless rural families from the MST occupy government building to resume negotiations

Brasil de Fato

More than 500 families from the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST, in Portuguese) in Brazil’s Federal District and surrounding areas are occupying Regional Superintendence 28 to resume negotiations on the development of settlements and obtain new land. The action, which began on Monday (9), marks the start of the State Day of Struggle for Land and Popular Agrarian Reform.

According to the movement, it is necessary for the federal government to place agrarian reform at the center of the so-called budget recomposition to move forward with land expropriation and the settlement of over 2,000 families encamped in the Federal District and surrounding areas.

Landless rural families are demanding development and infrastructure policies that have been on hold for years. Among them are the objective resumption of the Terra Sol program, with productive investments in the settlements, renegotiation of the settlers’ debts, and resumption of the housing policy focusing on the construction and renovation of houses.

The State Day of Struggle for Land and Popular Agrarian Reform also demands better living and working conditions for settlers in the Federal District and the Integrated Development Region of the Federal District and Surrounding Areas (RIDE, in Portuguese).

The movement seeks to guarantee access to land and the sustainable development of rural communities through negotiations with government agencies and pressure for public policies.

The MST also demands the construction of technical schools (also known as vocational schools) in the settlements and the drilling of artesian wells for irrigation, meeting the needs of families in various towns.

As for obtaining land, the movement is seeking an inspection of Jussara Farm, in Buritis, following decree 433, as well as putting pressure on the notification of other areas, such as Santa Clara Farm, in Unaí, for new settlements.

Regional demands

The activity involves families from the three regional areas of the Federal District and its surrounding areas: Northeastern Goiás, Northwestern Minas Gerais and the Federal District itself. They call for improvements in the settlements’ infrastructure, debt renegotiation, land regularization and access to public policies that provide decent conditions for rural families.

Families from the three regions took part in the protests/ Photo: MST DF and its Surrouding Areas

In northeastern Goiás, the main demand is for the installation of infrastructure through housing policies to solve the rural housing deficit and renovate existing housing. The release of initial credits that focus on settlements is also a priority.

The families are asking for improvements in water distribution in the Egídio Brunetto (Flores), Filhos da Terra (Água Fria de Goiás) and Vale da Esperança (Formosa) settlements, as well as land regularization and the resumption of technical assistance projects in partnership with social movements.

It is also demanding that several farms be inspected to guarantee land for the encamped families, particularly the M2 Farm in Alvorada do Norte and the São Paulo Farm in Água Fria de Goiás. The MST is also seeking the retaking of plots of land in the Terra Conquistada Settlement Project, where pending resolution clauses have caused inconvenience to the community.

In Minas Gerais’s northwestern area, the focus is on sustainable development, with credits for the installation and construction of agro-industries through the Terra Sol program. Basic infrastructure, such as roads and bridges connecting settlements to towns is another priority, to promote agro-ecological food production.

In the Federal District, families demand access to essential services, such as health and education, in the settlements and encampments. To this end, they are asking for partnerships with the health and education departments to build new health centers and technical schools.

There is also the need for the regularization of land ownership in areas that were obtained decades ago, but which still face limitations due to the lack of notarial deeds, such as in the Gabriela Monteiro Settlement Project, where the Gabriela Monteiro Centre for Popular Education and Agroecology is located.

About obtaining land in the Federal District, the MST is seeking progress for the Noelton Angélico and March 8 encampments, as well as resolving pending issues in the Marcio Matos settlement in Planaltina. The inspection of Baronesa Farm, near Brazlândia, is also among the regional demands.