Brazil: peasants murdered and evicted by latifundium and the old State
We hereby share a resume of a report published by A Nova Democracia (AND).
Big landlords committed new crimes on the peasantry between the end of January and beginning of February, this year. More than 135 peasant families who lived in the Occupation Marielle Franco, eastern Teresina, state of Piauí, were evicted by the joint action of Military Police and goons. In Maranhão the goons hired by the latifundium invade Quilombola territory in Cancelas, in São Benedito do Rio Preto, destroyed and torched crops. The body of a murdered peasant was found in Acre. The peasant was José Jacó Cosotle, resident of the aforementioned Occupation Marielle Franco.
Piauí
The Committee of Solidarity to the Struggle for Land (COMSOLUTE) explained that the eviction in Piauí took place under the interests of “Cooperativa Mista dos Avicultores do Piauí (Coave)”. The Piauí government, lead by the PT, mobilized the Military Police, military armored vehicles and shock troops against the peasant families. Also 20 goons hired by the latifundium joined the action and destroyed the houses of the peasants. The peasants who wanted to recover their belongings, were threatened. The Occupation Marielle Franco was established in 2024 giving lands to peasant families. These lands were abandoned for more than 40 years. The COMSOLUTE denounces that “The connivance between the State and the latifundium takes places in the countryside and in the cities, in Maranhão, Piauí, in the whole country”.
Maranhão
In Maranhão goons set ablaze and destroyed crops and other properties in a Quilombola territory in Cancelas. The fire erased more than one thousand hectares of land, according to local reporters. The goons already attempted to expel the peasants but around of 70 Quilombola peasants prevented them to do so. Organizations such as the Center of Defense of the Rights of the People stated that “this episode in Cancelas is not an isolated event, but the fires have been an strategy by the land-grabbers in the entire country”.
Amacro, Acre
The peasant José Jacó Cosotle was found dead. The peasant was inhabitant of the occupation Marielle Franco.
The Pastoral Commission of Land (CPT) states that “The region is witnessing a bloody conflict. The landlords send armed security to intimidate the occupiers”. The region of Amacro (Amazonas, Acre and Rondônia) concentrates a horrifying number of crimes committed by the big landlords. On January 14 the peasant Francisco do Nascimento de Melo was murdered by the big landlords in Amazonas. Peasant families of the region denounce threats and persecutions by goons linked to the latifundium.