Rising rural violence
Bishops cite slavery, land conflicts

Brazil’s Catholic bishops have warned of a rising tide of violence in the country’s rural regions, arising from conflicts over land.

According to a report by the Catholic Pastoral Land Commission, the number of conflicts over land rose to 832 in 1999 from 361 in 1992—a sign the government’s land-reform efforts are failing. The conflicts occur when landless peasants occupy farms owned by the country’s powerful landowners, often resulting in pitched battles and even deaths. “There is certainly a rise in land conflicts and the government is responsible for it in its anxiety to quash the land rights movements,” said Bishop Tomas Balduino, president of the commission.

The government had said it has settled 287,000 rural families between 1995 and 1998, more than any previous government. But the commission said the policies are failing because from 1995 there have been sharp increases in rural conflicts. “The 1995-1999 period is significant because in those years the current land settlement policies were introduced,” said Bernando Mancano Fernandes, an author of the report. “One can see that since then the number of conflicts rose, which shows the failings of the policies.”

Commission officials also pointed to instances of slavery on farms. In 1999, 1,080 rural slaves were freed in Brazil. “Statistics from the government show that for every peasant liberated from slave labor, there are two or three more left,” said Henri des Roziers, a lawyer working for the commission.