On March 18, about 100 squatters from Barro Branco, Furnas, Cabii, Monteiro, Caiana, Morcego, Caixa d'Agua, Tenório and Sítio Grande, located in the rural area of Jaqueira, Pernambuco (PE), Morcego, Tenório and Sítio Grande, Organized by the League of Poor Peasants (LCP), they joined to resume their sources of water that were surrounded by the Mata Sul Agricultural Latiface, belonging to the Guilherme Maranhão landowner.
Since 2015, when theft of lands and water sources began, peasants live and produce in the lands of the former Frei Caneca plant. Latifundry Guilherme Maranhão supported by former governor Paulo Camara, installed pistolage groups that threaten the entire population to expand cutting cattle for international export through the Masterboi refrigerator.
Despite the extensive evidence of water poisoning with pesticides launched by landlords (in addition to contamination of sources with feces and cattle urine), the Pernambuco Public Prosecutor's Office (MPPE) and the Pernambuco State Secretariat of Environment (CPR) never opened any Criminal inquiry against the agricultural Latifundia Mata Sul S/A.
Therefore, the peasants decided in a popular assembly to perform a great act to resume the water sources of the landlord. The call reached the entire population of the municipality with leafleting at the fairs and in all peasant communities affected by this environmental crime and against the health of the people. The peasants also organized joint efforts for cleaning and demarcating the water sources, 50 meters away from cattle breeds and landlipping plantations.
To do all this work, the squatters had the support of the peasants of the revolutionary area José Ricardo and the young students of the Mangue Vermelho Movement. They helped clean the bush and mark the fences to protect the water sources under the scorching sun. In addition, they faced the landlords of the landowners with all people with all people.
As soon as the peasants ended the effort of the first source of the day, with a lot of struggle, singing popular songs and shouting slogans, half a dozen landowner gunmen appeared with tractor, pickups, motorcycles and quadricycles. The gunmen arrived with piles, wires and eucalyptus seedlings to install in the same area as the peasants just cleaned. When the peasant march crossed with the bad guys, the latifundal envoys threatened the peasants with firearms. The tension resulted in confrontation, and three gunmen were injured and a estate drone was shattered by the popular fury masses against the gun
On the same March 18, the agrarian prosecutor of the MPPE, the CPRH agents, representatives of the State Committee on the Monitoring of Agricultural Conflicts (CEACA), representatives of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) and the Federation of Workers and Farmers of Pernambuco ( Fetape), Mayor Ridete Pellegrino and Jaqueira councilors, as well as lawyers of the Mata Sul Agricultural Latiface, made visits to investigate complaints from the landowner against the peasants. According to information, this commission did not visit the water sources of the peasants, only the places indicated by the landowners.
However, the peasant action of the peasants forced the whole commission to present itself at the scene of the act and accept two lawyers of the Brazilian Association of Lawyers (Abrapo) and the president of the Barro Branco Picners Association in the Commission and still had to accept the terms of the people at the audience that needed to mobilize the hurry.
In the end, the MPPE accepted a proposal of the peasants represented by Abrapo for the creation of “waters”, to demarcate all sources of water to the people. The landowner was summoned to pay for the stakes and wires, the city will send employees to perform the work and the State Secretariat of Environment was to examine the waters of the people to determine the contamination and open criminal inquiry against landlord.
After the hearing, Guilherme Maranhão gunmen asked the Pernambuco Military Police (PM-PE) to be reinforced to plant eucalyptus in one of the water sources that the peasants had cleaned in task force and the lawyer of the landlord Eduardo Figueredo announced that they will perform military action to expel peasant families from areas near the woods.
Two vehicles were sent to make the safety of the gunmen to continue acting against the people. This is not an act of courage, but of cowardice in the face of the small demonstration of strength of the united peasants and organized by the agrarian revolution. It also demonstrates how the military forces of this old state are committed to protecting the interests of landowners and promoting misfortunes for the poor population of the countryside and the city.
The squatters of the lands of the former Frei Caneca plant are determined to resume all their sources of water and their lands back from the land of the landlord. Thus, they call all peasants in the South Mata Zone of Pernambuco to rise against the pistolage groups of the landlords and the military forces of this old state. Without destroying the landlord there will never be justice to the poor people of the countryside.