In a statement that put large landowners, who are already clearly hostile to their government, on edge, Brazilian President Lula da Silva said on Tuesday he would distribute unproductive land so anyone who wants to work can plant on it. The announcement was made in a second series of directs that Lula began making on social media last week, mimicking the practice of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, but without the same repercussions.
“We are going to make a list of so-called unproductive lands in this country and free lands where we can make an agricultural settlement for those who want to work in the fields, not fight anyone. wait for the MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra) invasion?” said Lula of the Workers’ Party (PT), once again touching on an extremely sensitive topic in Brazil – conflicts in the countryside that have been going on for many decades, and which no government has been able or willing to solve so far, including two, which he previously commanded, between 2003 and 2010, in his first and second presidential terms.
Back in the live broadcast, which was broadcast from the Planalto Palace, the residence of the President, in Brasilia and entitled “A Conversation with the President”, Lula announced that he had asked the Minister of Agrarian Development, Paulo Teixeira, to compile this list, along with unproductive lands and allocate them to agrarian reform, not specifying whether it will include private land. Lula was not at all pleased with the day he chose for this announcement, as he touched on such a sensitive topic on the very day his government announced record funding for the next growing season, a very important and positive piece of news that was overlooked. . background with Lula’s statement, which effectively left a rumor in the air that his government might confiscate private lands to give to landless farmers, further fueling feelings in the countryside.