MST occupies Incra buildings in Bahia to protest the extinction of the MDA.

Approximately 1,5 landless rural workers are occupying buildings belonging to the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) in Salvador, Itabuna, and Bom Jesus da Lapa. According to the leadership of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the occupations follow a schedule established with various popular protests "against the illegitimate government of interim president Michel Temer." The national leader of the MST, Evanildo Costa, says that "it is not permissible to back down in the face of the conservative and reactionary offensives of the interim government, which will not accept setbacks, and agrarian reform needs to be on the agenda."

June 09, 2016, 15:45 pmUpdated May 28, 2019, 08:58 AM

Approximately 1,5 landless rural workers are occupying buildings belonging to the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) in Salvador, Itabuna, and Bom Jesus da Lapa; according to the leadership of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the occupations follow a schedule established with various popular protests "against the illegitimate government of interim president Michel Temer"; the national leader of the MST, Evanildo Costa, says that "it is not permitted to back down in the face of the conservative and reactionary offensives of the interim government, which will not accept setbacks and that agrarian reform needs to be on the agenda" (Photo: Romulo Faro)

Bahia 247 - Around 1,5 landless rural workers occupied buildings of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) in Salvador, Itabuna and Bom Jesus da Lapa, this Wednesday (8). According to the leadership of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the occupations follow the schedule established with different popular protests 'against the illegitimate government of interim president Michel Temer'.

A member of the MST, federal deputy from Bahia, Valmir Assunção (PT), affirms that the actions "are legitimate" and that "the people must fight for their rights."

"The extinction of the MDA [Ministry of Agrarian Development] caused outrage among land rights movements. If debating agrarian reform was already difficult, now it's even worse. These are the kinds of attitudes that the coup government establishes, setting back years of struggle for workers' rights," says Valmir.

According to the national leader of the MST (Landless Workers' Movement), Evanildo Costa, the MDA (Ministry of Agrarian Development) is also "a landmark in the fight against violence in the countryside and a space for the affirmation of minorities." "The ministry is a space for the political representation of rural populations, guaranteeing the advancement and development of farmers. An example of this was its creation in 1999, based on the Eldorado dos Carajás massacre, which occurred in April 1996."

Evanildo also says that "it is not permissible to back down in the face of the conservative and reactionary offensives of the interim government, which will not accept setbacks, and that agrarian reform needs to be on the agenda."

With no end in sight and counting on the support of various popular movements and organizations from both rural and urban areas, the symbolism of historical resistance built from the struggles for land is present in the occupations, with the red flag displayed over the buildings of the institutes.