In total, 5,6 families are benefiting, covering an area of 59,5 hectares. The territories of Alcântara (MA) and Kalunga (GO) are among those receiving the aid.
The last week was a time of celebration for the quilombola movement in various regions of the country. On the evening of last Tuesday (March 24th), at the opening of the 3rd National Conference on Sustainable and Solidarity-Based Rural Development (CNDRSS), promoted by the National Council for Sustainable Rural Development (Condraf), the federal government announced the signing of new expropriation decrees and the delivery of new titles, partially regularizing the situation of several quilombola communities.
In total, the delivery of 18 land titles to ten quilombola communities was confirmed. This benefits 5,6 families, covering an area of 59,5 hectares. Expropriation decrees for social interest were also signed in seven states, benefiting 590 quilombola families in an area of 12 hectares. These documents are an important step in the titling process and in finalizing the land regularization that precedes the official titling.
In the packed auditorium of the Ulysses Guimarães Convention Center in downtown Brasília, where the announcements took place, were present the President of the Republic, Luís Inácio Lula da Silva; the Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Agriculture, Paulo Teixeira; the president of the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), César Aldrighi; the Minister of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco; and leaders of various rural social movements.
“Today we are signing nine decrees, reaching a total of 69 in this administration, benefiting 590 families in seven states, guaranteeing them the security of their homes and their traditions. Today we are also delivering 18 definitive land titles, consolidating the rights of 5.600 families over a total of almost 60.000 hectares. I want to highlight within this achievement the delivery of the title to the quilombola territory of Alcântara, in Maranhão,” said Minister Anielle Franco, also emphasizing that this action is part of the agenda to combat racism in Brazil.
“At the Ministry of Racial Equality, we work towards this every day. And that is why this day here is not just symbolic, it is concrete and it is a milestone,” he emphasized.
In addition to Alcântara, where more than 45 hectares were titled, benefiting approximately 3,3 families, the following territories were also granted definitive titles: Kalunga, in Goiás; Lagoas, in Piauí; Acauã and Boa Vista dos Negros, in Rio Grande do Norte; Brejo dos Crioulos, in Minas Gerais; Invernada Paiol de Telha, in Paraná; Tabacaria, in Alagoas; and Serra da Guia and Lagoa dos Campinhos, in Sergipe.
The quilombola territories covered by the decrees are: Pedro Cubas de Cima, in São Paulo; Vila São João and Buriti, in Piauí; Lajeado, in Tocantins; Desidério Felipe de Oliveira, Picadinha and Família Cardoso, in Mato Grosso do Sul; Monte Alegre, in Espírito Santo; Barro Vermelho, in Maranhão; Costa da Lagoa and Família Fidélix, in Rio Grande do Sul.
"We want land to live on, not under."
Representing the National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Quilombola Black Communities (Conaq), Maria Rosalina dos Santos recalled the Quilombola movement's struggle for the titling of all territories in the country and considered the federal government's announcement an important step forward, despite so many challenges.
“We know that we still have many actions to take to repair this historical debt that the Brazilian State has with us, the Quilombola people. But delivering new land titles and signing new decrees aimed at strengthening the main agenda, which are measures that contribute to the continuity of social public policy, is something that CONAQ recognizes as progress,” she emphasized.
Rosalina dos Santos pointed out that obtaining definitive land titles is a complex, often slow process that involves different administrative steps and requires coordination between various public institutions.
"Therefore, the challenge is to continue moving forward through dialogue and planning to guarantee the titling of quilombola territories and strengthen rights, promoting legal security and valuing the communities that have played a fundamental role in the history of Brazil."
The 2022 Census by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) identified 7.666 quilombola communities in Brazil, totaling a population of over 1,3 million people. Of this total, just over 57,4 people are in territories with definitive land titles, representing 4,3% of the quilombola population in Brazil.
Of the 7.666 quilombola communities, approximately 182 – less than 10% – already have definitive land titles and, therefore, the land regularization process has been completed.
The right to definitive ownership of lands occupied by quilombo communities is guaranteed in Article 68 of the Transitional Constitutional Provisions Act (ADCT) of the Constitution, obligating the State to issue titles to those who hold this right.
However, as highlighted by the representative of Conaq, this mechanism for historical reparation and territorial protection, of the identity and way of life of quilombola communities, is a process that involves different stages, faces land disputes and, therefore, has not yet reached all quilombola communities in the country.
“Each step, however small it may seem, represents an important step in that direction. When we look at land regularization, we see that there are approximately 2 processes underway at Incra, with approximately 200 territories already titled. But, at the same time, there is a significant way to go. It is a complex process,” emphasized Maria Rosalina dos Santos.
The leadership concluded with a direct demand to President Lula: “At this moment, CONAQ requests the continuation, with greater speed, of the process of regularizing quilombola territories. Because having titled quilombola territory is to combat the violence that has claimed the lives of many quilombola people in their territories. We want land to live on, not under.”
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Kalunga Territory receives four titles.
Considered the largest quilombo (maroon settlement) in the country, the Kalunga territory has been granted four land titles, benefiting 888 families across 9,6 hectares. Located in the states of Goiás, between the municipalities of Cavalcante, Teresina, and Monte Alegre de Goiás, and Tocantins, between the municipalities of Arraias and Paranã, the Kalunga quilombo covers 262 hectares, of which only 79 had definitive land titles. Since 1991, the region has been recognized as a quilombo remnant community and as a Historical Site and Cultural Heritage by the government of the state of Goiás.
For Carlos Pereira, president of the Kalunga Quilombola Association (AQK), the delivery of the land titles by the federal government was a historic moment for the quilombola movement, but there are still many challenges to overcome before all communities receive their titles.
“The main question everyone asks is whether it’s enough, whether it was good. It’s good for a start, but it’s still very little, considering the amount of quilombola territory we have in Brazil, where many still suffer because they haven’t yet received their land titles. But for Kalunga, it’s a huge victory that we received these four titles in the name of the collective territory. A historic milestone for the territory, and we are moving forward,” he says.
Pereira emphasizes that AQK will continue to demand more effective actions from the public authorities to fully regularize the Kalunga quilombo, guaranteeing the population more rights, access to public policies, and security to care for the territory.
“We are talking about 262 hectares of land, and we haven't even reached 50% of the titling process yet. But we are making progress, and it's a slow process. So we hope for more speed so that the remaining areas can be expropriated and the titles delivered to us. So that we can take care of it with more responsibility, with more care, with more autonomy, which is what we already try to do in our territory, even though we are not the holders of the original document, which is the definitive title,” he explains.
Time frame would prevent titles and decrees
Among the quilombola territories that received signed decrees and land titles, two reinforce the understanding that a time frame would prevent the definitive titling of their lands: the Paiol de Telha quilombo in Paraná, and the Picadinha quilombo in Mato Grosso do Sul.
The Quilombola community of Paiol de Telha – which received its land title, encompassing 393 families across 312 hectares – had been outside its territory in 1988, after being expelled due to land disputes in the 1970s. Their return came after a long and arduous struggle.
"If the temporal framework thesis were taken into consideration, they would not be entitled to any title, because they were completely expelled from the land when the 1988 Constitution came into effect," explains Fernando Prioste, a lawyer and socio-environmental analyst at ISA.
In the case of the Picadinha community, which was subject to an expropriation decree, the families suffered a process of loss, over the years, of their area, which was also the subject of a land dispute. Prioste points to the same concern if the temporal framework thesis were also applied to quilombola territories.
“If the time frame had been approved, this expropriation decree would not exist. Picadinha has been losing land, and if the title were granted only based on the understanding of the time frame, they would be left with a very small part of the territory, about 40 hectares out of a total of almost four thousand, and this decree could not exist,” he explains.
The "time frame" is a ruralist thesis according to which only indigenous or traditional communities that were in possession of their lands on the date of the promulgation of the Constitution, October 5, 1988, would have rights to them. This interpretation was approved by law in Congress for indigenous land demarcations, but was overturned by the Supreme Federal Court (STF). Today, there are bills in the legislature that intend to apply it to the regularization of quilombos (settlements of escaped slaves) as well.
Regularization in recent years
According to information from Incra, between 2023 and 2025, President Lula's third term had already signed 60 expropriation decrees, impacting 8,7 families across 249 hectares. During the same period, 72 hectares of quilombola lands received definitive land titles, distributed among 32 quilombos, according to data from the Ministry of Racial Equality (MIR).
During the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro, only six quilombola communities received land titles, and all of them were partial, in a period marked by a significant reduction in the rate of land titling. During the same administration, the Palmares Cultural Foundation certified 161 communities, a much smaller number than the 812 certifications carried out during Lula's first term. Former President Bolsonaro himself announced during his campaign that he would not grant land titles to quilombola territories or demarcate indigenous lands during his administration.
A study conducted by the organization Terra de Direitos in May 2023 indicates that if the Brazilian state maintains the pace of land regularization for quilombola territories, which has worsened even further during the Bolsonaro administration, it will be necessary... 2.188 years to fully grant title to all open cases at Incra.
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