Evictions occur simultaneously in the following MST settlements: Abril Vermelho, Dorothy, and Irany.
At dawn on Monday (25), approximately 700 landless families from the settlements of Abril Vermelho, Dorothy, and Irany (in the cities of Casa Nova and Juazeiro) have been violently evicted by men from the Federal Police, Military Police, and armed militias in the region.
“They came shooting, there is a comrade [from MST] who was shot in the head!” the evicted families stated.
“There is a lot of violence against the evicted families, a lot of aggression, a lot of pepper spray, a lot of smoke bombs.”
The settlement areas are part of the irrigated perimeter of Nilo Coelho, Casa Nova, and the Salitre and Juazeiro project.
“We have been here for four years, fighting and resisting. And we will not leave here.”
Families have been camping in the settlements since 2007, thanks to an agreement between the Federal Government, the State Government, Incra, the Agrarian Ombudsman, Codevasf, and the Public Prosecution Service.
However, with the violent attacks against the social movements by the current Federal Government, the agreements have been neglected and violated, and working families are once again falling victim to state violence.
Seven hundred families are witnessing their dreams being destroyed by the government, which sends a clear message that they do not want to see landless workers working or producing food.
The economy of Juazeiro and the region will suffer a huge decline, because the settlements that were brutally dismantled by the government produced more than 7200 tons of food a year, generating work and income for more than 5000 families.
The MST repudiates the State's action, brutality, and lack of commitment to the settlements' families. Furthermore, the MST reassures that they will remain in the struggle, resisting.
The Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) urgently demands that Bahia's State Government.take a position against the eviction.
* Edited by Fernanda Alcântara
* Translated and copy-edited by Rodrigo Ferreira
