Impunity for the Murderous Latifundium in Brazil

Close to the ninth anniversary of the disappearance of the peasant Ruan Hildebrandt Aguiar and the murder of other peasant youth, Alysson Henrique Lopes, the trial to the murderous military police who persecuted and murdered peasants in 2016 was postponed once more.

On January 23 of 2016, the peasant leaders Enilson Ribeiro dos Santos and Valdiro Chagas de Moura were brutally murdered by the military police in Rondônia. A Nova Democracia (AND) reports as follows: “The year 2016 was marked by an intense police-big-landlord terror, specially after the appointment of the colonel Ênedy Dias as a general command of the Prime Minister of the state of Rondônia”. AND makes clear the police brutality with the explanation of the facts of those days: “Besides shooting several times against the leaders, the gunmen smashed the head of both with a stone”.

Local journalists, Iván Pereira Costa y Lucas Bueno, received attacks and Iván was murdered by two shots which he received from the military police. AND reports that during those days “groups of gunmen terrorized the families, looted and robed in houses, established checkpoints in the roads, slaughtered animals, imposed curfews and threatened the school. The bus drivers had forbidden to drive close to the Terra Prometida encampment, in Ariquemes.” The gunmen were not alone, but there were military police officers traveling with gunmen of the latifundium and carrying truly war arsenal on board of trucks: “a 9mm machine gun, 3 shotguns [caliber] 12, 1 shotgun [caliber] 28, 1 shotgun [caliber] 16, 1 revolver [caliber] 38, more than 300 bullets of different calibers, loaders, ballistic vests, hoods, 1 radio transmitter.

In 2020 some of the murderers, including several military police officers were condemned to years. However, after the demand by the Public Ministry (in this moment under the Bolsonaro government), it was declared a mistrial and the accused were acquitted. This included the big landlord although he admitted that hired gunmen and military police officers. Years later, under the Luiz Inácio government the trial has been postponed and thus, the impunity of the murderous latifundium continue being free.