On Tuesday morning (26), 42 families living at the Baixinha do Bom Jesus encampment, in Planaltino, Bahia state, were forcibly evicted by Military Police officers carrying out a repossession order. According to the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST), the operation included threats from police and the presence of armed gunmen allegedly working for local landowners.
A plainclothes police officer threatened residents, saying he would return at night to burn down their homes. “A machine came to destroy the homes, families tried to resist… The police threatened us, saying they’d come back at night to set fire to the shacks and open fire,” said MST organizer Abraão Brito.
He added that the police did not present a printed judicial order: “Many armed men claimed to be officers, but we know they work for the landowner.”
Land targeted for agrarian reform
The land in question, known as Fazenda Paraíso, is registered in the federal government’s land reform program and was already earmarked by Brazil’s National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) to settle families.
Negotiations for regularizing the community began under former President Dilma Rousseff in 2016, but were halted during the Michel Temer administration. The encampment became a local reference in small-scale farming, especially in cassava production, supplying regional markets.
Elderly people, children, and pregnant women were among those evicted. “We even have a photo of the plainclothes officer who made the threats. We’re in a delicate situation,” Brito warned.
Land reform program aims to benefit 295,000 families
The Terra da Gente (Land of the People) program, launched under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, maps and organizes public and underused land to be used for agrarian reform.
According to Incra, the goal is to serve 295,000 farming families by 2026. About 74,000 are expected to be settled in new territories, while another 221,000 will receive legal recognition or title regularization in existing settlements.
In 2024 alone, more than 12,000 families in Bahia were still awaiting land titles.
