The occupation of farms in the vicinity of Trancoso, on the southern coast of Bahia, has heightened tensions in the region, resulting in protests and successive roadblocks – the last of which was this Wednesday (24).
At least three large properties have been invaded since 2020 and occupied by about 3,000 families linked to the Peasant Resistance Movement, who built canvas shacks and mud and wooden houses on the site.
One of the first properties to be occupied, still in 2020, was Mirante Rio Verde, a 112-hectare farm located within the Caraíva-Trancoso environmental preservation area, a region with remaining Atlantic Forest vegetation.
In the last four months, other areas were occupied, including land next to the beach at the interchange of the highway that connects the Porto Seguro headquarters to beaches such as Trancoso, Arraial D’Ajuda and Caraíva. At the site, fences and a guardhouse were erected on the access road to the occupation.
The occupation of the land is criticized by the residents of Trancoso, a district with around 11,000 residents and whose main economic activity is tourism.
They criticize the disorderly occupation and environmental degradation of the region, including the lack of sanitation and the removal of wood from native forests to build houses.
The squatters, in turn, defend the families’ permanence in the occupied farms and have carried out a series of protests, including the interruption of traffic on the roads that give access to the beaches.
Protests took place this Wednesday and last Saturday (20), when the road that gives access to the beaches of Curuípe, Itaporanga and Caraíva was blocked. At the time, protesters burned tires and closed the road for about six hours.
The owners of the farms try to retake the areas through actions for repossession in the Justice of Bahia.
Representative of the owners of the Mirante Rio Verde farm, lawyer Thiago Phileto Pugliese says that there was already a reintegration completed in 2021, which was later suspended by the courts.
“After the reversal, the movements took advantage and brought even more people to the place. The State needs to be present, we are still waiting for a position from the court”, he says.
The case has been stalled for eight months in court, after successive requests for suspicion by judges to deliberate on the case. When questioned, the Bahia Court of Justice reported that it “does not issue any opinion on ongoing proceedings, pending judgment.”
Deputy Mayor of Porto Seguro, Paulo Cesar Onishi (União Brasil), known as Paulinho Toa Toa, claims that the occupation of the lands is an orchestrated political movement and says that most of the families settled in the region are from outside Porto Seguro. .
“There is a political movement behind this occupation and this saddens us. We identified that most people in the occupation are from other cities and even from other states, such as Minas Gerais”, says the deputy mayor.
He also says that occupations also impact tourism. “Any action that frightens tourists is to end Porto Seguro’s employment and income.”
The city government says that it is acting as a kind of intermediary to seek a consensus solution and that it will assist in the execution of repossessions, if they are determined.
A part of the land, close to the beaches of Pitinga, in Arraial D’Ajuda, and Itaquera, in Trancoso, has already been vacated.
A petition organized by residents of Trancoso, which reached 600 signatures this Tuesday (23), defended the actions of the movements fighting for land, but criticized the occupations in Trancoso for structuring irregular neighborhoods, without basic sanitation and prior planning. .
“This is not a social movement based on progressive principles, but the reflection of the particular interests of a few actors aiming at political promotion and profit”, says the text.
Councilman Vinícius Parracho (União Brasil) says that the environmental impacts of the occupations are the main focus of concern for the community. And he questions the occupation of a protected area.
“When we talk about agrarian reform, we talk about unproductive lands. An environmental protection area is not unproductive, it must be preserved and its purpose is defined by law. Even if the area is used for social housing, it is necessary to respect the urban rules”, he says.
Parracho also criticizes the authorizations and licenses for the construction of large real estate projects and condominiums on the south coast of Porto Seguro and says that the rules are not always followed.
THE Sheet tried to contact representatives of the Peasant Resistance Movement in the last three days, but without success.
In July, one of the occupations hosted a pre-campaign act by state deputy Júnior Muniz and federal deputy candidate Ivoneide Caetano, both from the PT and linked to Luiz Caetano (PT), who until July was state secretary for Institutional Relations.
Sought after, deputy Júnior Muniz stated that he went to the camp only to receive the support of the residents and that he has nothing to do with the occupation.
