Feb 13, 2025

Threats, intimidation and armed militias prevent the free movement of community residents in their own territories. The Collective of Traditional Peoples and Communities of the Cerrado denounces violence by land grabbers, who are supported by sectors of the state.

On February 5, land grabbers, accompanied by a judicial officer and police officers, intimidated the riverine communities of Barra da Lagoa and Chupé, in the municipality of Santa Filomena. In the same week, in the community of Chupé, a resident was banned from walking on his territory. One of his livestock animals was captured by land grabbers. Armed militiamen remain in the territories of the Chupé and Brejo das Meninas communities 24 hours a day, intimidating residents.

The threats occurred after a decision by the Piauí Court of Justice, which wrongly ruled in favor of three local land grabbers. The ruling doesn't even mention the communities, which is illegal and encourages the violation of rights. Among the favored land grabbers is João Augusto Philipsen, who in May 2024 was sentenced to prison for serious environmental damage to 1573 hectares of native forest in the Cerrado. The criminal has still not been punished.

The Barra da Lagoa and Chupé territories have been demarcated and the final titling process has been underway since 2020, without finalization. While the titling of traditional communities is at a standstill, the land grabbers are advancing with the support of the Piauí Land Institute (Interpi), which is supposed to defend the communities. At the same time, the Secretariat for the Environment and Water Resources (Semarh) authorizes deforestation by land grabbers, with enormous environmental impact.

Recently, land grabbers cleared part of the territory of the Grinalda do Ouro community, in the municipality of Gilbués. Residents of this community and of Brejo do Miguel (also in Gilbués) have suffered threats from these land grabbers.

“The police take requests from land grabbers and accompany them to threaten us. But when the community asks for help, the police don't show up,” says one of the leaders of the Collective of Traditional Peoples and Communities of the Cerrado.

The families - women, children and the elderly - suffer from frequent threats and eviction attempts. The communities demand protection from the justice system and an end to the delay in the titling of their territories by Interpi.

Justice orders the removal of land grabbers and reaffirms title to the Salto territory, in the Cerrado of Piauí. The traditional riverine community of Salto, in the municipality of Bom Jesus, was granted collective title in June 2021.