João Stédile had said that 2023 was the “worst in history” for settled families; Paulo Teixeira says it was the best since 2015
Minister Paulo Teixeira (Agrarian Development) retorted the leader of the MST (Landless Rural Workers Movement), João Pedro Stédile, by stating that 2023 was the year with the highest number of families settled in Brazil since 2015. He had the activist said in a Christmas conference message that the first year of the new government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) would be the “worst in history” in this respect for the group.
“We have resumed the agrarian reform which had been paralyzed since 2015. We have settled 7,200 families and we have regularized another 40,000 in 2023. This is the highest number since the strike. There were no more resources in the budget for this year and it is still modest in 2024. Here lies Stédile’s criticism,” Teixeira said in an interview with the newspaper O Globo.
The Minister of Agrarian Development declared that among the strategies that should be adopted next year is the assignment of the lands that currently constitute the heritage of INCRA (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform) and of the public areas intended for agrarian reform.
Teixeira signaled that the lands transferred from the Union’s large debtors will also be used, as well as those expropriated for agrarian reform.
STÉDILE’S CRITICISM
In a video posted on social media with an overview of the year, João Pedro Stédile said: “In terms of settled families [2023] It is the worst year among all 40 of the MST. But we understand. It’s part of the struggle. We even say that the progress of popular agrarian reform is no longer measured in hectares, but in ideas, political and social achievements”he has declared.
In the video, Stédile says “understand” the Lula government’s delay in agrarian reform. He criticizes the administrations of former presidents Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and Michel Temer (MDB) for justifying the lack of progress on the agreements in 2023.
“The resources were lacking, because the budget belonged to the previous government, and in a certain sense the Brazilian State, with the crisis and the dismantling that occurred during the 6 years of fascist governments, prevented the machine from addressing the needs of the workers”he has declared.
Watch (7 minutes and 48 seconds):
2023-12-27 23:10:57
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