Descendants of slaves in Goiás state are granted land title

Two agreements signed by Brazil’s Attorney-General’s Office guarantee the Kalunga community the ownership of Fonte das Águas (6.5 thousand hectares) and a portion of Vista Linda (2.3 thousand hectares), two ranches in the Central-West state of Goiás, where the descendants of runaway slaves already live.

In 2014, the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA), tasked with titling quilombola lands, filed two motions to expropriate the ranches before they could be regularized as quilombola territories. INCRA’s bid for Fonte das Águas stood at BRL 4.3 million, whereas the offer for Vista Linda reached BRL 1.7 million, which resulted in the signing of the agreements.

One of the documents already outlines the land transfer, and its compensation has been deposited. For the other property, it was agreed that an expert will set the limits of the expropriated area before a price can be fixed.

“The titling of the properties will be granted in favor of the Kalunga community as soon as the procedures are conducted,” the official statement reads.

Land rights

A quilombola community, or simply quilombo, is formed by the direct descendants of runaway slaves seeking to protect themselves.

A century after the emancipation of slaves in Brazil, the 1988 Constitution guaranteed these groups the right to the lands on which they had remained.

In the 2022 census, 386,750 people declared themselves members of a quilombola community.

The Kalunga

The Kalunga territory, officially recognized as a quilombo, covers an area of 261.9 thousand hectares and stretches across the municipalities of Cavalcante, Monte Alegre, and Teresina de Goiás. It is home to some 4 thousand people.