Brazil – ‘ongoing guerrilla in Rondônia’: Bolsonaro Supporters try to Demonize LCP to Destroy their Right to Struggle for Land
We hereby share an unofficial translation of an article published by A Nova Democracia (AND).
The murder of a peasant and the destruction of structures of a Poor Peasants League (LCP)’s camp on the 8th of august, was followed by a digital offensive of military Bolsonaro supporters on social media. With no base, the general commander of the military police (MP) Regís Braguin and the colonel of the reactionary army Fernando Montenegro published videos presenting the peasants movement as “armed guerrilla”, “criminal organization” and “rural insurgency”, with the clear objective of creating a smoke curtain to silence the illegal operation by the Special Operations Battalion (BOPE) in the Area Valdiro Chagas, in Machadinho d’Oeste, and justifying new attacks.
In a recently published video, police officer and digital influencer Braguin claims to have “neutralized a LCP terrorist,” boasting about a summary execution and labeling the movement as “an armed criminal organization disguised as a social movement.” In the videos, he shows .762 caliber ammunition and weapons that he claims are part of the peasant movement’s “war arsenal”.
“Do you know what this ammunition is? It’s .762 ammunition, used by the Army for war,” Braguin introduces. “This ammunition was what our BOPE troops found today during a police intervention at a hacienda invaded by the armed criminal group known as the League of Poor Peasants, which truly uses the slogan ‘Death to the landowner’ in the state of Rondônia.” “Intelligence work verified that this property, after the invasion, was prepared with guerrilla structures, and I characterize how the LCP uses guerrilla strategies: at the access points, they set up elevated watchtowers for sentinel surveillance, marked land access with barricade positions, and even the house serves as accommodation for this group, thus forming a guerrilla territory to hinder and prevent State intervention through the police.” “We found various calibers such as .762, .30, 9mm, .40, among others,” concludes Braguin.
Braguin, who presents himself as a spokesperson for absolute justice, does not take long to reveal his sinister face. In a video posted on his Instagram, a macabre piece of propaganda can be seen featuring a car driving in the dark with background music and a child’s voice saying: “One, two, don’t look back; three, four, running is no longer useful; five, six, it’s your turn; seven, eight, nine, ten, he will pull your feet.” At the end of the video, a car shows police officers looking drugged. Braguin is not satisfied with the video and adds in the post’s description: “We are not only on the streets. We are hunting.”As far as we know, there is no indication in the Brazilian constitution that rules the police force to hunt men, but the general commander does not have much regard for that document. In the end, he is the same one who admits not obeying the law of his own State, which he claims to defend: on May 18, he said, “For me, the LCP should be classified as terrorists; the law does not provide for that, which is a shame, but so it is, in police action we already working under this approach.”
In another video, the general commander of the MP-RO (Military Police of Rondônia) appears together with the executive director of APROVASOJA-RO, Victor Paiva, in the occasion in that the latifundium reveals that there exists a “public-private partnership” between him and the colonel to realize a program that is called “Rural Security”. It is not strange, that there in Rondônia there is an attempt to persecute the right for the struggle for land, that is being pushed forward with arms by the police forces and with massacres, against the own reactionary laws. The program puts the police troops under the direct control of the latifundium and their unconstitutional employees, the big landlords and as a intern security troop of the latifundium, meanwhile the public land of Rondônia are being robbed and hoarded by the big landlord robbers. By the way, the APRASOJA-RO is a Bolsonaro supporting entity that is connected to the financing of the putsch agitations, of other parts in Brasil in 2022. Braguin puts the police troops as armed enemy of the peasant masses without covering it up.
Braguin himself is known for not respecting the military code, and not even the constitution. On Instagram, he regularly shares posts favorable to Bolsonaro supporting politicians like Ronaldo Caiado. In one video, he even greets the governor and introduces himself as “the number 1 fan of the sir.” In another post, he appears alongside the governor of Rondônia, Marcos Rocha, and Ronaldo Caiado, announcing Caiado as “a pre-candidate for the Presidency of the Republic,” who “represents a hope for real and necessary change for Brazil.” According to the military code, police officers cannot participate in political acts.
Montenegro, by his side, mixes his military career with that of a “coach,” claiming to “develop a Special Forces mindset.” He published a text on his personal blog along with a series of videos using manipulated concepts, accusing the LCP of promoting “criminal insurgency” and “hybrid warfare” financed by supposed “foreign forces,” which he conveniently does not specify who are. In his blog, he cites terms like “lawfare” (the use of law as a weapon of war) to insinuate that the movement has “backing from the judiciary” to “invade lands,” but in practice, the opposite occurs: judicial decisions historically and systematically legitimizing illegal evictions and land theft by the state.
On Instagram, the shameless individual went further. “This is not a common invasion,” he wrote in the caption of a video, where he claims that the camp was a “guerrilla base” in which the LCP is in one of the initial phases of what he calls “irregular warfare” or insurgency. “They are already in a first phase of preparation, using heavy weapons, and are in a dangerous transition to the second phase of guerrilla warfare, with watchtowers, barricades, and recruitment,” says the military coach.
In another video, Montenegro attempts to present a supposed history of the LCP, accusing the movement of “dominating areas” and “acting as an armed group with watchtowers and carrying out ambushes.” “The most dangerous thing is that they want to create free zones where the State does not rules,” the colonel concludes.
Fernando Montenegro not only dedicates himself to demonizing the peasant movement but also presents himself as “kid preto”: in his free time, he spreads chaos and contributes to U.S. economic sanctions against his own country. In a video with apocalyptic sounds, he suggests that U.S. sanctions against Brazil will have catastrophic effects because the Brazilian government is “challenging” the U.S. government, just like “countries such as Venezuela and Iran.” He states, “I believe the effects of this law’s enforcement could overthrow the current government or cause a civil war, do you agree?”—a question that sounds like a mix of doubt and desire. “The lesson is that Brazil, due to its dependency, cannot withstand” the sanctions, says the shameless individual, in the style of the “digital militias” of the bush captain, suggesting that either Brazil frees its president Bolsonaro from condemnation, or there will be no place for our nation in this world.
The reactionary press in Rondônia has rushed to amplify the accusations. Media outlets such as “Tudo Rondonia” published headlines such as “Criminal group uses war weapons to confront the police,” echoing the official narrative without presenting evidence or hearing from the accused party. This editorial line is not coincidental and reinforces the symbiosis between sectors of the local press and the large landowners, the main perpetrators of these massacres disguised as police operations.
Strong Response
The response from the LCP was strong. “They will not intimidate us. The League of Poor Peasants is made up of workers rising against centuries of oppression. We are what they fear the most: the organized people,” said the National Commission of the movement.
The movement also denounced that the police action occurred after several attacks by goons paid by the big landlords, accusing the military of “replacing the goons and doing by themselves the dirty in the orders of the big landlord robbers.”
“But this is nothing new,” the LCP continued. “It is the same State terrorism practiced for decades, since the events of August 9, 1995, in Corumbiara, and they continue to act in the same way until today. This is how this troop of cowards and murderers from BOPE operate, who, outside the law, invading peasant areas to murder workers and their leaders.”
The LCP’s statement was accompanied by denunciations from the Brazilian Association of People’s Lawyers Gabriel Pimenta (Abrapo), which specifically accused Braguin and Montenegro of using their positions to “inflame hatred against the peasantry” and “promote political persecution disguised as police action.”
The Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) also issued a statement, reminding that military police should not act as political influencers, as is the case with Braguin.
30 Years of Impunity…
The violations in the Valdiro Chagas Area, in Machadinho d’Oeste, occurred on the eve of the anniversary marking 30 years since the Battle of Santa Elina, also known as the “Corumbiara Massacre.” In 1995, the police of Rondônia and goons attacked hundreds of camped families, resulting in deaths, torture, and disappearances, including the one of a 7-year-old girl.
Three decades later, history is repeating itself with shocking similarity, revealing that the old State repressive apparatus against peasants remains intact. Helicopters flew low while troops advanced on the ground, indiscriminately firing at homes where entire families, including children, were present. Houses were set on fire, belongings completely destroyed—from household utensils to solar panels acquired with immense effort—crops burned, animals killed, and wells poisoned. All of this occurred without any judicial order, in blatant violation of the Constitution and even the Code of Criminal Procedure, which require a warrant and legal justification for operations of this nature.
However, while repression intensifies, it also signals the growth and influence of the peasant struggle in the region. The LCP, even under heavy attack, has been expanding its organization and popular support. “If they want to exterminate us, we will rise again with more strength. Our struggle is just and historical,” the peasants boldly assert in a statement.
