MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Temer woos the “beef caucus” by regularizing land-grabs in the Brazilian Amazon

Temer rubber-stamped the act as he tries to gather support in Congress, which is deciding whether to authorize the Supreme Court to try him for corruption

Land-grabbing follows a long well-established pattern in the Brazilian Amazon, closely linked to lobbies and political interests, and again as in previous circumstances, this time embattled president Michel Temer signed legislation, previously approved by Congress, which regularizes such illegal claims.

 Under the new law, anyone who appropriated Amazon land before 2011 may be excused, an extension from the previous 2004 limit. The maximum area of claimable land has been increased from 1,500 hectares to 2,500 hectares per person. What is more, the cost of title deeds has been discounted by up to 90%, from a government index that already values the land at below market rates.

Temer rubber-stamped the act as he tries to gather support in Congress, which is deciding whether to authorize the Supreme Court to try him for corruption – a first for a sitting Brazilian president. It will help him keep the influential “beef caucus” onside, which has 207 out of 513 lawmakers in the lower chamber.

Justifying the changes, the Temer administration argued they would bring relief to thousands of low income families living in remote areas of the Amazon.

“This policy improves the fight against deforestation and land-grabbing, as the public lands will have a proper destination in the region. We understand that there is no such a notion that once you occupy a public land, you will be regularized”, said José Dumont, secretary of land regularization in the Amazon, during a press conference.

Two days later, in another measure heavily backed by the beef caucus, Temer sent to Congress a bill that could strip 349,000 hectares of Jamanxim National Forest, in the Amazon state of Pará. The goal is to regularize land-grabbers that invaded part of the conservation unit, which may lose 27% of its area.

The move came just weeks after Temer, under pressure from environmentalists, vetoed a bill approved by Congress that would reduce 37% of Jamanxim’s area.

“Temer governs for his own good and not for the country. Without any shame, he is selling out the Amazon in exchange for votes against his impeachment. This bill is absurd, it demoralizes the Brazilian State and shows that he is willing to do anything to continue in the presidency,” said Márcio Astrini, coordinator of public policies at Greenpeace Brazil.

In response to the news, land-grabbers in Jamanxim area lifted a two/week long protest that blocked BR-163 highway for most of the days. During the blockade, they burned eight new 4X4 pick-ups that were being delivered to Ibama, Brazil’s environment agency.

NGO Imazon calculates the two bills combined will gift squatters a windfall of US$160-190 million, instead of punishment for their environmental crimes. This is based on comparing the market value of one hectare in that region (US$566) with the regulated price for title deeds to be charged by the government. In Incra’s (National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform) spreadsheet, the minimum price of unused land in the region is US$211/hectare.

The new law provides that, for titling, land-grabbers will be charged between 10% and 50% of that amount.