Agrarian Reform Being Delivered As Promised, Says Brazil

The Brazilian Minister of Agrarian Development, Miguel Rossetto, said that, through September, the government’s National Agrarian Reform Plan has settled 56 thousand families on a total of more than a million hectares of expropriated land.

Thirteen thousand of these families are in the process of regularizing their lots. The others already have legitimate deeds. From the Minister’s perspective, these figures are encouraging.


The goal of the Plan is to settle 115 thousand families by the end of this year.


“A huge effort is being made to guarantee the settlement of these families, as well as to extend technical assistance to all the settlements, and the government proved it has the operational capacity to fulfill the National Agrarian Reform Plan’s goal,” the Minister affirmed.


Following a meeting in the Planalto Palace with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the Minister said that Lula reaffirmed the government’s commitment to ensure all the budgetary and financial resources earmarked for agrarian reform.


So far the Ministry has received US$ 222 million (630 million reais) of the US$ 600 million (1.7 billion reais) apportioned by the federal government to enable the settlement goal.to be met.


No Deed


Rossetto, told Brazilian lawmakers recently that 200 million hectares of land in Brazil have no kind of deed whatsoever for the State to exercise control.


During a public hearing held by the Parliamentary Investigating Committee formed to deal with the agrarian issue, Rossetto affirmed that instruments must be created to evaluate these areas in order for the government to obtain an accurate picture of their legal status for the development of the State’s social policies.


Along these lines, according to the Minister, the Ministry is making a survey to recognize and demarcate territories belonging to “quilombolas” (descendants of runaway slaves) and squatters.


Altogether there are, Rossetto said, 1.2 million squatters who traditionally occupy the land but possess no official document or legal security.


Rossetto added that the Ministry is working to regularize 2.2 million hectares. According to the Minister, 123 properties are already in the process of being expropriated, for a total of 305 thousand hectares.


In his assessment, 134,857 families can be settled in these areas. “This is why we shall fully meet the targets of agrarian reform,” he affirmed, referring to the National Agrarian Reform Plan, which foresees the settlement of 400 thousand families on the land by the end of this Administration.


Agência Brasil
Translator: David Silberstein

Tags:

You May Also Like

Recession Fears Knock Down Markets in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina

In Brazil and Latin America markets plunged on Wednesday, October 22, on fears of ...

56% of College Students in Brazil Are Women. Bad Sign, Says Expert.

Over the course of 13 years, in Brazil, the number of women enrolled in ...

Brazilian House Ready to Expel Man Who Denounced Kickback Scheme in Congress

This afternoon the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies is scheduled to vote on a motion ...

The Meaning of Brazil’s Protests and a Who Is Who of the Main Villains

A wave of pro-impeachment protesters against Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff, representing the largest political ...

Russia Lifts Embargo on Brazilian Meat

Since Wednesday, April 20, the Russian embargo on Brazilian beef and pork has been ...

Brazil Hands Out US$ 3.7 Billion for 2008/2009 Crop

State-owned Bank of Brazil (BB) has disbursed 6.7 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 3.7 billion) ...

Brazil Needs to Change Constitution Say Indians

Diplomats and representatives of Indian nations from 34 countries are meeting in Washington, DC, ...

Brazil’s Crop Falls 6% in 2005 Thanks to Drought

Brazilian 2005 agricultural crop had a reduction of 5.51%, or 6.5 million tons, when ...

Brazilian Government Gets Better Marks for Education, But Worse for Economic Policy

The CNT/Sensus poll released Tuesday, September 13, shows that people’s evaluation improved in all ...

Brazil: Bahia Is in State of Siege with Police on Strike and Criminals Roaming Streets

Shopping Iguatemi, the most popular shopping center in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. 3rd floor in ...