After expulsion followed by the arrest of a priest and a public defender, families camp neighboring a farm say they are under threat

Camped by the side of a road under high-voltage cables and on the edge of the Cinco Estrelas farm, in the rural area of the town of Novo Mundo, in the state of Mato Grosso, 74 landless families report they are living in fear. "We are being threatened by armed men on patrol. We no longer have our right to come and go," says Maria*, one of the landless workers.

Last Monday (27), the landless workers occupied an area overlapping the farm earmarked in April for an agrarian reform settlement by the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA, in Portuguese). Hours later, they were evicted without a court order by the Military Police and agents from the private security company Tática Serviços.

According to the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT, in Portuguese), one man had his arm broken, and an elderly woman had to be hospitalized. Ten landless workers, public defender Gabriela Beck and two CPT representatives – including priest Luís Cláudio da Silva – were arrested.

On Wednesday (29), the governor of Mato Grosso, Mauro Mendes (Union Brasil), declared: "It's no good the Public Defender Office talking. It's no good the priest, bishop, politician or deputy talking." To RD News, a local newspaper, he said: "Whoever has possession [of the farm] will be protected by our state police."

Area already earmarked for agrarian reform

However, the 4,300 hectares belong to the Federal Government, as ruled by the Court of Appeals in 2020. That's why INCRA issued a decree for the definitive settlement of the 74 families, allocating 2,000 hectares of this territory to the Novo Mundo Sustainable Development Project.

An appeal against the decision was filed on behalf of Clayton Rodrigues da Cunha, who claims ownership of 4,300 hectares. This writ of mandamus, in which he argues that the area is used for raising cattle and planting soybeans and corn, has not yet been judged by the Federal Regional Court (TRF, in English) of the 1st Region, in Brasilia. While the TRF does not hear the case, the conflict is intensifying in the north of Mato Grosso.

The families have already spent 20 years by the side of the road under tarpaulins and without water, waiting for legal authorization to be settled permanently. "We're at risk here. We have elderly people and lots of children, including toddlers," says Maria.

In a statement, the CPT denounces that the eviction was carried out in a "coordinated" action between the Military Police and security guards from Tática Serviços – referred to by the Pastoral as "farm thugs", "at the behest of the land grabber Clayton."

"In addition to several arbitrary arrests, the Military Police of Mato Grosso showed a perceptive relationship with the security company [Tática Serviços], which actively helped in this violent action, as well as indicating who should be arrested. The security guards took the detainees' cell phones and made sure they stayed on school buses," the Pastoral Land Commission explained.

"With shields, bombs, heavy weapons and pepper spray, they were deployed at the behest of the governor, according to the major who headed the operation," says the CPT.

Brasil de Fato spoke by phone with the owner of Tática Serviços. Wagner Vieira confirmed that the agents took part in the eviction of landless families, but denied they had repressed them. According to him, security guards stayed "at the gate".

Asked who had called in the private security company to support the eviction, Vieira said he would say no more and would talk with his lawyer. Brasil de Fato remains open to their response.

The report also contacted the Mauro Mendes government's Public Security Secretariat and Incra for a position. No replies had been received by the time this news story was published. If they do, the article will be updated.

*The name was changed to protect her identity