Land possession has caused the first clashes in the newly named cabinet of President Dilma Rousseff with Agriculture minister Katia Abreu arguing there are no large estates ('latifundium') left in Brazil, while her Agrarian Development peer and a stalwart from the ruling party said a social approach was needed to the land and peasants issue.
Violent disputes over indigenous land are on the rise in Brazil, sparking heightened militancy by natives angered by broken promises of compensation and slower government registrations.