Quilombos Praia Grande and Pedro Cubas de Cima received their partial titles last week (20/02). Another 52 communities are still waiting for the document.
On February 20, the government of São Paulo delivered partial land regularization titles to the quilombola communities of Praia Grande and Pedro Cubas de Cima. The communities are located in the Ribeira Valley, in the southwest of the state.
The titles were awarded during the event "Nosso Agro tem Força", at Palácio dos Bandeirantes, with the presence of seven quilombolas, the Secretariat of Agriculture, the Articulation and Advisory Team for Black Communities (Eaacone) and the São Paulo State Land Institute Foundation (Itesp), in addition to other actors from the region's agricultural sector.
During the ceremony, the governor of São Paulo, Tarcisio de Freitas (Republicans), promised to own "100%" of the quilombos in the state.
“I have to thank Itesp for its work, which is providing this land regularization. The thanking is over, now I will demand it. Let’s go because I intend to do 100%. I say this: we have little time to celebrate, little time to celebrate. We have to start working towards the next goal,” he said.
For Rafaela Santos, a quilombola lawyer from Eaacone, granting title to these territories is a matter of historical reparation. “The state of São Paulo built its wealth at the expense of the lives of our people and has few quilombola communities compared to other states,” she said after the event. “Today, hearing from the governor that 100% of the quilombola communities must be granted title is an important achievement, an achievement for the quilombola movement that is working hard every day to see our territories granted title, and we will demand that this promise be fulfilled within a reasonable timeframe,” she emphasized.
Edilene Geralda de Matos, leader of Quilombo Praia Grande, hopes that other territories will be titled soon. “Based on what the governor said, I am confident that more titles will come and I want to be strong and steady to see this happen.” Edilene sadly remembers Mr. Benedito Messias, who began the fight for the title of Quilombo Praia Grande and died in January without seeing the community achieve its goal. “He was the one who kept me going. He would say, ‘Daughter, don’t give up.’ He is gone, but I feel him with me at all times, giving me the strength to carry on. My hope is to see more territories titled and our land fully titled,” she said.
However, the titles given to the communities do not cover the entirety of the traditional territories, and non-quilombolas have not yet been removed from the titled area, which has intensified land conflicts. In other words, there is still a lot of work to be done in terms of land regularization and the delivery of titles in the communities of Praia Grande and Pedro Cubas de Cima.
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Changes and advances
The titles delivered have different clauses from the previous ones, which were delivered to other communities. Reversibility clauses were removed, that is, the return of lands to the State in some cases, such as, for example, due to alleged and possible environmental degradation. This possibility violated the constitutional right to definitive title of the communities.
The old clause was still an expression of environmental racism, as it was not included in land titles given to non-quilombolas in the land regularization process provided for in Law 17557/2022. In other words, only the titles given to quilombolas had this restriction, precisely for those who hold the largest portions of preserved Atlantic Forest throughout the country.
Also, a clause was added that provides for imprescriptibility, that is, the territories are now protected from possible attempts to acquire their lands by other people.
Another clause added was the non-attachability of collective traditional territories, which means that they cannot be seized for debts.
According to Fernando Prioste, a public defender at the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA), the changes to the titles are the result of the actions of the communities, who sought to engage in dialogue with the Attorney General's Office of the State of São Paulo on the issue. “After receiving the formal request made by the communities, the Attorney General's Office analyzed the case, agreed with the communities, and changed the clauses of the titles,” he explained.
History of degrees
In the State of São Paulo there are 56 quilombola communities certified by the Palmares Cultural Foundation, but only the Communities of Ostras and Ivaporunduva received full titles from the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA).
After 36 years of the Federal Constitution and 27 years of São Paulo law nº 9.757/1997, only 10 ten communities were partially titled: 1) São Pedro, 2) Maria Rosa, 3) Pedro Cubas, 4) Pedro Cubas de Cima, 5) Pilões, 6) Nhunguara, 7) Sapatu, 8) Galvão, 9) Praia Grande and 10) Ostras.
At the current rate, it would take approximately 150 years to fully title the 54 Quilombos in the state of São Paulo that are still awaiting land regularization.
Land regularization is an essential tool for guaranteeing rights and preserving the history and culture of these communities, which are responsible for conserving the largest massif of Atlantic Forest in the country. Among their practices is the Traditional Agricultural System (SAT) linked to the method of farming using slash-and-burn farming, which is recognized as Cultural and Intangible Heritage of the country by the National Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage (IPHAN).
“We, the Quilombolas of the State of São Paulo and Brazil, still face many challenges in the land regularization of our territories. Most of the communities have been waiting for decades for recognition and title in accordance with the constitutional order. Even though it has been a priority since 2014 in the INCRA and ITESP agreement, Quilombo Praia Grande has only now been partially titled, but without, in fact, removing the non-Quilombolas,” said Rafaela.
“We must also remember that many people died in this battle. Mr. Laurindo Gomes was murdered in the Praia Grande Community, and Mr. Messias passed away shortly before receiving the title. It is a sad moment for us, because these are people who fought hard to have this moment here today, this title and the removal of others from their communities,” he added.
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Edvina Tie (Dona Diva), leader of Quilombo Pedro Cubas de Cima, emphasized that the fight continues. “I am very happy with this victory, but the fight continues. We are winning and starting new stages. It has been 30 years of fighting, I founded the Association in 2003 and I have not stopped since,” she said.
The quilombola communities are demanding that ITESP and the Department of Agriculture implement a statewide plan for granting titles to quilombola territories. Public policy for granting titles cannot depend solely on the political will of administrators; it must be planned, with clearly defined objectives, goals and indicators, so that granting titles can occur within a reasonable timeframe.
However, despite working with this agenda for almost thirty years, ITESP did not bother to plan its action in order to title all quilombos within a reasonable period of time.
This planning is also important so that ITESP's actions can foresee the resources needed for the actions, and so that budget laws can foresee these resources.
Communities still waiting for the full title:
Silverio Farm
Andre Lopes
Sapatu
Kangaroo
Dry Hill
Mandira
Hunting
Pumps
Outback
São Pedro
beaching
Ariri
Cubatao Port
taquari
Sao Paulo Catfish
Santa Maria
Reginaldo
Drumsticks
Caixa Farm
Itamambuca Backlands
Cambury
Sprouts
Pilar Farm
Porto Velho
Pedro Cubas from Above
Lands of Caxambu
Paradise and Pedra Preta
Ribeirao Grande
Cedro
Dry Land
jao
castelhanos
Carmo
Nhunguara
Big beach
Capivari
Galvao
Maria Rosa
Abobral Left Bank
Poca
Pedro Cubas
Monk, Fox, Little Huntsman and Banana Bag
Holy Spirit of the Porcinos Fortress
Jose Joaquim of Camargo
Piririca
Villages
Peropava neighborhood
Islands
Minas River
ingenuity
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