Priest arrested during landless occupation of farm in Brazilian Amazon

SÃO PAULO, Brazil – A Catholic priest was arrested along with chaplains and a public defender on May 27 during a police operation against the occupation of a disputed farm by landless families in the center of the country.

Father Luiz Claudio da Silva, a member of the Commission for Rural Pastoral Care of the Episcopal Conference (known in Brazil by its Portuguese acronym “CPT”) and the Prelature of São Félix do Araguaia, accompanied a group of 74 families who had visited a farm called Five stars (“Five Stars”), in the city of Mundo Novo, earlier that day, along with other CPT agents.

Security forces hired by the farm owners arrived a few hours after the occupation and, according to witnesses, violently attacked the landless families. Shortly afterwards, the police arrived with two empty school buses to remove the occupiers.

“The police have been brutal since they arrived. Any person who approached the commander and tried to question him about something was automatically arrested and ordered to get on the bus,” said Wellington Douglas, a regional coordinator for the CPT. core.

Da Silva was arrested when he tried to intervene in the conflict following the arrest of a CPT agent.

According to Douglas, 13 people were arrested that day and taken to a police station. One of them was a public defender who the families had called before the police arrived.

“The commander grabbed her hair and took her phone before sending her to the bus,” Douglas said.

Police initially charged those arrested with a range of offenses, including disobeying police orders and trespassing on private property, but they were ultimately formally charged only with disobeying police orders, he said.

They were released later that day after several hours in custody. It is not yet clear whether they will face criminal charges. Da Silva traveled to another city in the prelature of São Félix do Araguaia after his release and could not be reached for comment.

The disputed farm is a 10,600-acre tract owned by the federal government that was occupied decades ago by land grabbers. Such practices are widespread in Brazil: ranchers, loggers, speculators and others often occupy undeclared public land in the Amazon, clear it for commercial purposes and then stake claims to the land that are often recognized during periodic amnesties.

In April, a government agency responsible for land reform in Brazil ordered that the area of Five stars The farm was supposed to be handed over to landless families, but the handover was delayed due to legal disputes.

“The farmer who claims it is his filed for an injunction a few years ago, but it has not yet been examined,” Douglas said.

The group of landless families demands the occupation Five stars has been camping in the area since 2004. A neighboring farm was expropriated by the government two decades ago and divided among other landless farmers. They agreed to give the other group a small portion of the land while the legal dispute continues.

“They have been camping with their children, pregnant women and senior citizens for 20 years and can only produce a very small amount of food there,” Douglas said.

Witnesses report that security forces from Five stars They often harass the group and walk around with weapons. Pesticides are usually sprayed near their camp.

When the guards arrived on May 27 to repel the families occupying the land, they tried to run over the occupiers with a tractor, as can be seen in a video shared with core from the CPT.

After the buses took the detainees to the police station, the police went to the neighboring property and attacked the peasants who had accompanied the action. They took away their phones and told them that no video of it could appear on the Internet or they would retaliate. One man had his arm broken by the police and an elderly woman was taken to the police station despite her claiming that she was ill.

Since the arrests, an atmosphere of intimidation has continued. According to community leader Francisco Menezes, the police have appeared there several times during the week. coreanother group of officials appeared.

“It was terrible for us, we are all in great distress. We are not committing a crime. We are acting according to the law. The land grabber is the one who is in the wrong, but the police are defending him,” he said. core.

Menezes reiterated that the entire community was shocked by da Silva’s arrest.

“Most of us are Catholics. His arrest has caused great concern among us. He did nothing wrong, he just asked the police to remain calm,” he said.

Menezes stressed that the police did not have a search warrant. Douglas said the commander told them that “he did not need one because he was following the governor’s orders.”

“He knew there was a priest there, but he just didn’t care,” Douglas said.

Governor Mauro Mendes told local news website RD News that “a person had possession of that land” and that “someone apparently occupied it.” State police, he said, “would protect whoever has possession,” whether “the public defender is there,” “whether a priest is there.”

Douglas described Mendes as a supporter of former conservative President Jair Bolsonaro and said he was supported by the agricultural industry in the state of Mato Grosso.

“During the 2022 presidential campaign, Bolsonaro’s supporters said that (President Luiz Inácio) Lula da Silva would arrest priests, just like (President Daniel) Ortega is doing in Nicaragua. But they are the ones doing it,” Douglas said.

Douglas stressed that the CPT is not a social movement and does not promote land occupations.

“We accompany vulnerable groups and are there for them. In conflict situations, our mission is to prevent farmers from suffering even more violence,” he said.

Menezes hopes that justice will prevail.

“We are fighting for our rights. We are not invading the country, we are occupying it,” he said.