A series of actions on Thursday (13) led by women from Brazil’s Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST, in Portuguese) increased the pressure on the Lula government (Workers’ Party) to push agrarian reform policies forward.
The mobilization occurred in 24 Brazilian states where there are MST activities and was part of the Landless Women’s Day of Struggle,previous to the MST’s Red April, massive actions to demand agrarian reform in the country. Landless families occupied areas in the states of Bahia and Ceará that did not comply with the social function provided for in the Brazilian Constitution.
According to the MST website, the protests denounce the impact of agribusiness activities, such as the intense use of pesticides, land-grabbing and violence targeting rural communities.
In a letter published on its official website, MST stressed the movement’s goal, “to denounce those who have historically been enemies of the people, our longtime antagonists in the class struggle, who target a project of society based on people’s sovereignty and that is truly eco-friendly and socialist.”
The protests happened a week after the government’s announcement that seven farms and rural estates would be expropriated for the creation of 138 settlements, totaling 12,297 land plots. The decision was published in Brazil’s Official Gazette on Monday (10).
Despite celebrating the measure, the MST says it is insufficient and is below expectations considering Lula’s promises. The MST demands the immediate settlement of at least 65 landless families that have been living in occupation for more than 10 years. The government’s announcement includes less than 5,000 MST families.
The movement’s letter says that “the Popular Agrarian Reform that we defend is not just a productive and environmental process but a feminist and anti-racist cultural revolution, breaking all the oppressive aspects, besides being a permanent praxis towards human and social emancipation.”
‘Eucalyptus feeds nobody‘
With the slogan “Agribusiness means violence and environmental crimes, women’s struggle stands against the capital,” the main target of landless women’s struggle is forestry companies, mainly pine and eucalyptus monocultures.
In the city of Aracruz, in the state of Espírito Santo, around a thousand women occupied an area owned by the Suzano pulp company, where they set up an encampment. “Espírito Santo is going through a very difficult moment due to the expansion of eucalyptus monoculture, which started in the 1960s,” explains a spokeswoman for the MST in the state, referring to the establishment of Aracruz Celulose, which later became Fibria and now Suzano. The activist’s statement, who preferred not to be identified, was given to BdF, which accompanied the action.
In Imperatriz, in the state of Maranhão, the MST female militants obstructed one of the main roads to Suzano’s largest factory in Brazil. On Thursday morning (13), more than 250 women from rural communities in the states of Maranhão, Pará and Tocantins occupied part of the BR-010 highway.
There are accusations of violence against rural workers, aerial spraying of pesticides and contamination of both soil and water due to the advance of agribusiness in the region.
In the Guaíba, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, a group of women protested in front of the multinational pulp and paper Chilean company CMPC. They denounced the threats posed by the advance of soy and eucalyptus monoculture in the Pampa, the predominant biome in the Rio Grande do Sul territory, Brazil’s southernmost state.
As part of its actions, the MST submitted a Notice of Fact to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF, in Portuguese), supported by several entities, denouncing the deregulation of environmental norms related to forestry and its socio-environmental impacts in Rio Grande do Sul.
BdF asked for a statement from Suzano and CMPC but had not received a response by the time this news story was published. If the companies write back, this news story will be updated.
Landless families demand unproductive areas
The occupation of lands, one of MST tactics, is part of the actions of the Landless Women’s Day of Struggle.
In Chapada Diamantina, a region in the state of Bahia, around 300 families occupied lands in the municipalities of Nova Redenção and Boa Vista do Tupim. The areas the movement claims have remained unproductive for years.
The actions in Bahia extend to the extreme south of the state, where around 600 female MST militants have occupied a section of the BR-101 highway.
In Ceará, more than 220 families are occupying an area in the Tabuleiro de Russas Irrigation Perimeter, located in the municipality of Limoeiro do Norte. That’s one of the main areas of agribusiness activity in the state, according to the movement. The activists are demanding 2,000 hectares of land to settle 200 families.
As well as demanding land, the landless families denounce the aerial spraying of pesticides using drones, which is considered a major step backwards. Ceará’s government approved the use of these devices at the end of 2024.
Occupations of Incra and legislative assemblies
In Maceió, the capital of Alagoas, around 800 women are occupying the superintendence of Brazil’s Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra, in Portuguese). The movement demands that Incra resolve the agenda of peasant women from all regions of the state. One of the obstacles in Alagoas is the case of the lands of the bankrupt estate of the João Lyra Group mills, which the movement claims to create settlements.
“We are in Maceió to highlight the struggle and the need for agrarian reform in defense of the lives of female rural peasants. Women are also responsible for providing food to society and this is our banner: Agrarian reform to produce food and contribute to the development of our state and our country,” said Margarida da Silva, from the MST’s national leadership.
The action had the participation of other rural movements in Alagoas, such as the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT, in Portuguese), National Struggle Front (FNL, in Portuguese), Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST), Land Struggle Movement (MLT, in Portuguese), Popular Struggle Movement (MPL, in Portuguese), Social Struggle Movement (MSL, in Portuguese), Via do Trabalho Movement (MVT, in Portuguese) and Free Land Movement (TL, in Portuguese).
At the Incra superintendence in São Paulo, protesters took banners and posters to the Legislative Assembly, asking “Where is the agrarian reform in São Paulo?”.
After entering the building, the group took part in a meeting with Incra’s superintendent, Sabrina Diniz. During the meeting, the protesters presented the reality of each region of the state, as well as delivered a document formalizing their demands.
In the state of Mato Grosso, the Landless Women’s Day of Struggle is taking place at the state Legislative Assembly in Cuiabá, the state’s capital, with the participation of 150 landless women from rural areas, settlements and other peasant and urban organizations from all regions of the state. The activities aim to denounce the various forms of daily violence the assembly has legitimized.
In recent months, the Legislative Assembly of Mato Grosso has approved bills that threaten environmental preservation, such as a bill allowing areas of the Amazon biome in the state to be reclassified as Cerrado – another of Brazil’s biomes – increasing deforestation. The state government vetoed the bill.
Tree planting in the Federal District
In Brazil’s Federal District, the day’s activities began on March 11 and will continue until March 14, at the MST encampment in Planaltina. The program includes various activities, such as tree planting, debates, free training, moments of self-care and activities to denounce violence.
According to Leidiane Evangelista, from the movement’s national leadership, it is necessary to break away from the view that only men work in rural areas and produce food. “It is essential to give visibility to the female contribution in agriculture and to promote agroecology as a healthy and balanced way of life, in which families occupy a central position both in production and in the organization of life in the countryside,” she says.
