Marina Silva was called a monkey in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies during a debate on forest fires

 Marina Silva was called a monkey in the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies during a debate on forest fires. It is appalling how federal deputies treat a state minister, starting with the commission president's remark, insinuating that Marina Silva had been trained like a monkey to speak about smoke, fires, deforestation, land grabbing, and agribusiness in Brazil. The process of land grabbing, which involves the illegal appropriation of public lands, often leads to the conversion of large areas of native forest into monoculture farms, such as soy plantations. The typical sequence of this process involves several interconnected steps, which can be described as follows:

Invasion of public land: Land grabbers occupy areas of public forests, often indigenous lands or environmental reserves, without legal authorization. They use resources from parliamentary amendments, the budgets of municipalities, and corrupt police forces converted into private militias for landowners.

Burning and clear-cutting: To make the area suitable for agricultural use, forests are illegally cut down, often through fires that destroy native vegetation. The process often involves labor akin to slavery, exploiting local and peasant populations in the region, subjecting them to submission through drugs, prostitution, and child labor exploitation.

Forgery of documents: Land grabbers create fraudulent documents to “legalize” the possession of the invaded land. This practice can involve the forgery of property titles or the use of ineffective and corrupt land registration systems. These forgeries are done in collaboration with municipal notaries, judges, council members, deputies, corrupt environmental agency officials, and lawyers, using money diverted from drug trafficking, arms smuggling, political corruption, and contraband.

Local pressure and coercion: Traditional communities and indigenous peoples living on the invaded lands may be forced to leave, often under the threat of violence or coercion. During this same meeting, indigenous communities were accused of being marijuana growers and drug traffickers.

Complete clearing of the area: After deforestation, land grabbers remove logs, roots, and any traces of native vegetation to prepare the land for planting, often using machinery diverted from local city governments.

Application of agrochemicals: Intensive use of herbicides and pesticides to control weeds and pests begins, preparing the soil for commercial crops. These agrochemicals are often purchased as contraband, consisting of chemicals banned in Brazil.

Intensive planting: The land is planted with soy on a large scale, usually using mechanized monoculture techniques. Large-scale production is geared toward export, especially to international markets like China and Europe. The land-grabbing cycle may continue, with land grabbers seeking new lands, repeating the process of deforestation and expanding the cultivated areas.