On Saturday, June 8, at about 8:30 p.m., four hooded men carrying guns invaded the Canudos Landless Encampment, organized by the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement of Paraíba State (MST-PB, in Portuguese), in the town of Riacho de Santo Antônio. During the violent action, which lasted about an hour, the attackers set shacks on fire, destroying them. The case is under investigation by the State Commission for the Prevention of Violence in the Countryside, the Public Defender's Office and the Civil Police station of the town of Queimadas.
Civil Police officers visited the encampment on Sunday (9) / Photo: Carla Batista/Ascom MST-PB
According to an official statement by the MST-PB, the first shack stormed was where Gerlane Alves, 24, lives with her two kids – five and two years old – and her partner, Willian, 26. During the violent action, Gerlane was roasting fish and her kids were watching TV with their father. She said the men were yelling at them, affirming they were police officers and were there to do good. Gerlane’s husband had his hands tied with plastic clamps. After that, they were pushed out of the shack followed by their kids and saw the men spilling a flammable product and burning their house. The attackers didn't even allow the couple to remove the children's clothes and belongings," the movement said in its statement.
Gerlane Alves and Willian Alexandre had their shack burned down by attackers. / Photo: Carla Batista/Ascom MST-PB.
Gerlane says the men didn’t look like police officers. “They burned it all down: bed, crib, refrigerator, clothes, cell phone. [They burned] All that we had. They made us watch our belongings burn, a horrible feeling. I lost everything and had to watch my daughter cry in desperation while they were saying they would kill us. It really revolts me. My strength comes from God. I had just got those belongings, and they destroyed them.
The second shack attacked belonged to Ivoneide Ferreira da Silva, 46, who was having dinner when the attack happened. The men destroyed all her belongings, as read in the movement’s statement. “They came in and quickly burned everything, while a gun was pointed at my husband’s head. They said they were police officers, but I soon realized they weren’t. We were left with nothing. I asked them if I could take my documents, and they said I could take new ones. I lost everything. I was left with nothing but clothes on my back. I’m devastated. They destroyed my dream,” she recalls.
Ms. Ivoneide / Photo: Carla Batista/Ascom MST-PB
Another shack destroyed was that of Dayane Vitória’s, 15, who had just gone to her mother-in-law’s house to take a bit of cooking oil. Her three-month-old baby daughter was left at home sleeping, under the care of her father. “They yelled at me holding my arm and ordering me to get out of my mother-in-law’s shack. I ran to my shack to take my daughter. I was very afraid of dying. I was shaking and felt sick,” said Dayane.
"After expelling the families from their houses, the criminals burned down the shacks, leaving the landless workers to watch the flames take over everything they had built there. When they left, they shouted at them to leave and never come back. The encamped families experienced moments of terror, but managed to control the fire," the MST said. The Military Police were called and assisted the families. The police officers made enquiries, but the attackers were not found so far.
What was left after one ofthe shacks was consumed by the fire in the Canudos Landless Encampment / Photo: Carla Batista/Ascom MST-PB.
On May 30, according to some of the families, representatives of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform of Paraíba (INCRA-PB, in Portuguese) and the state coordination of the MST carried out a registration at the encampment to identify the families in the occupied territory. In that same week, the farm's owner visited the site accompanied by a possible buyer of the property.
"For the last two years, the residents of the encampment have been suffering harsh threats from an employee of the farm known as Erivadro. According to reports from some of the families, he had already said he was going to set fire to the encampment and expel everyone," says the statement.
The Canudos Landless Encampment has been occupied by the MST for 10 years and is home to 56 families. They are demanding the expropriation of the Canudos farm, which covers an area of around 3,000 hectares. According to the MST-PB, the area is abandoned, unproductive and does not fulfill its social function. The families have been producing palm, corn, beans, jerimum, watermelon and sweet potatoes, as well as raising cattle, goats, pigs and chickens.
The crime is being monitored by the State Commission for the Prevention of Violence in the Countryside, the Public Defender's Office and the Civil Police station in the town of Queimadas.
Edited by: Carolina Ferreira
