Ivanir José Bortot and Daniel Macedo        Reporters Agência Brasil

Brasília – The recent executions of environmental activists in the northern region of Brazil will be investigated and the perpetrators punished, declared minister of Agrarian Development, Afonso Florence.

“ The fact that in the past such crimes may have gone unpunished does not mean that will be the case now. We will not accept impunity,” said minister Florence in an exclusive Agência Brasil interview. Here are highlights of the interview:

As part of the government’s effort to avoid other similar crimes that are caused by land disputes, the minister announced the creation of two land deed offices in the state of Amazonas. One, located in Humaitá, on the border with the state of Rondônia, and the other at Boca do Acre, near the state of Acre. According to the minister, the offices will speed up the process of land deed registration.

Minister Florence also pointed out that a total of R$530 million earmarked for land reform expropriations is still available (the money was not part of budget cuts that totaled R$50 billion) and will be used by the government as part of its action plans to alleviate tensions in areas of land conflicts.

The minister also discussed the question of foreigners buying large areas of farmland in Brazil. The matter, he said, was under investigation by the Office of Federal Prosecutors (“Advocacia-Geral da União – AGU”) and that he expected the AGU to issue a legal brief on the subject soon.

In his Agência Brasil interview, minister Florence also discussed the changing concept of land reform over the last few years, saying that the Dilma Rousseff administration is perfecting the process begun during the Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva government.

Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

The complete interview (in Portuguese) can be seen at this link: Mortes de trabalhadores rurais na Região Norte não ficarão impunes, afirma ministro do Desenvolvimento Agrário