38 ‘They simply said that the land was theirs and that we had to leave. They came and they burned down the house… it was horrible… they burned down 20 homes… One of our friends was assaulted and had a shotgun shoved into his chest. Others were forced to watch their belongings burn. We’re living in a time of terror. It is horrible.’ Zezinho, Santarém 218
<strong>EATING</strong> <strong>UP</strong> <strong>THE</strong> <strong>AMAZON</strong> 39 CARGILL’S IMPACTS AROUND SANTARÉM Since Cargill arrived in Santarém, soya has been the major driver of deforestation in the municipality. Between 2002 and 2004, annual deforestation rates jumped from 15,000 to 28,000 hectares in Santarém and the neighbouring municipality of Belterra (also in Pará state). 219 Forests have started to give way to mechanised soya monocultures. While direct conversion of rainforest to soya plantation in the Santarém area has been estimated at 10% of the area deforested during recent years, 220 this figure fails to show the whole impact the soya industry and its infrastructure is having in the region. Much land is also indirectly converted – secondary forest is felled, and squatters are forcibly removed from land they have already cleared (inevitably leading to clearance elsewhere). In August 2002, Cargill’s director in Santarém declared that the area has the potential to make 300,000 hectares of land available to produce one million tonnes of soya a year. 221 According to Cargill’s manager in Santarém, by 2004 some 14,000 hectares in Belterra and Santarém were already under cultivation, producing 34,000 tonnes of soya annually. 222 Farmers from the south have since started to buy up land and new roads are appearing. 223 Cargill makes no secret of actively aiding farmers from the south to establish themselves in Santarém: ‘We have even brought lime from Ceará to help producers, now we are helping them to increase production.’ 224 By prefinancing soya harvests, Cargill makes soya economically attractive for producers – and helps fund forest conversion. Since the arrival of Cargill and the soya producers there has been a dramatic rise in land prices – up 6,600% since 2002 to R$1,000– 2,000 (US$471–942) per hectare, although land is still cheaper than in Mato Grosso. 225 Local and state government agencies have been accused of being actively involved in land grabbing. 226 LAVRAS FARM, PARÁ (<strong>AMAZON</strong> BIOME) Greenpeace investigations have conclusively linked Cargill’s export terminal in Santarém to land grabbing and illegal deforestation. For example, Greenpeace traced soya supplied to the terminal back to the Lavras Farm, run by the brothers Edno and Clóvis Cortezia. In October 2004, the Cortezia brothers signed a contract with Cargill to supply a total of 600 tonnes of soya before the end of July 2005. 227 In 2000 (when rumours of the Cargill export plant were heard in the south), the brothers Edno and Clóvis Cortezia established the Lavras Farm, totalling 8,000 hectares, 20km outside Santarém on the west side of the BR163 (see Lavras map right). by the Federal Police for his role in facilitating land grabbing in the region. The brothers themselves have repeatedly tried to launder their ownership of the land they occupy through various government departments. In 2002 they paid Rural Territorial Tax to the government through the Bradesco Bank in Santarém, to create the illusion of legality through official paperwork. 228 They were then able to use the tax receipts to obtain loans from Brazilian banks to fund their soya expansion. In 2003, the brothers then tried to register ownership of only 2,487 hectares of the farm. 229 The rationale for this is clear: parcels of public land greater than 2,500 hectares can only get conclusive land titles with the approval of the National Congress. Even if they had been successful in fraudulently getting official documents for this area of the farm, the Cortezia brothers have already cleared 1,718 hectares within this area. 230 This level of clearing violates the Brazilian Forest Code, which states that private landowners in the Amazon must preserve 80% of their forest areas. 231 Land grabbers around Santarém – Lavras Farm Deforestation to 1998 Deforestation 2000 Farm Road Belterra Cargill Port Santarém Lavras Farm BR-163 Amazon River The Cortezia brothers fraudulently obtained land titles for areas occupied by landless settlers (colonos), as well as areas of public land, with the help of a lawyer who is currently under investigation
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