The question of lands acquisition by foreigners in Brazil – a return to the dossiers

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of land acquisition by foreigners in the last 50 years in Brazil. It begins by examining the scandal over the sale of lands to foreign individuals and companies in the second half of the 1960’s, when more than 28 million hectares were transacted, in most cases, illegally. The Velloso’s Report highlights the scandal and actions of the military dictatorship to ensuring the acquisition of lands by foreigners. Meanwhile, the government tried to show a nationalist side to Brazilian society. These facts are shown as a tragedy in Brazilian history. It is also discussed the current question of lands acquisition by foreigners as a farce in Brazilian recent history. Firstly, because of the little territorial expression those foreigners possess in this country. Second, the farce turned into a phony news item and aimed to remove the issue of agrarian reform of the center of political debate, trying to cover up the option of the agrarian contra-reform in the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s second term and then Dilma Rousseff. Finally, we discuss the issues of land in the globalized rent seeking capitalism in Brazil.