Brazil Soybean Terminal Seized by Protesters in Harvest Season

(Bloomberg) — Local protesters protested a Cargill Inc. plant in Brazil’s Amazon region during the peak soybean harvest. occupied the export terminal; This escalated a standoff affecting shipments from one of the country’s major export hubs and drawing condemnation from trade groups.

Protesters, members of indigenous groups, stormed the facility at the Port of Santarém in the state of Pará on Friday, according to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

The incident took place as 14 indigenous tribes in the region protested against a public tender for the dredging of the Tapajós River and a decree signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva paving the way for the privatization of management of three rivers in the Amazon with a total length of about 4,000 kilometers.

“We urge directly involved parties to prioritize safety, engage in constructive dialogue, and work on a solution that allows for the safe restart of operations and the continued movement of food to where it is needed,” Cargill said in a statement. he said.

The terminal in Brazil’s Para state is part of a string of Amazon ports that handle more than 40% of Brazil’s corn and soybeans. The country is currently harvesting soybeans, and activity at ports in the region is key to continued exports at this time of year. Protesters had previously blocked roads and ground access to the Cargill terminal, stopping the unloading of soybeans from trucks, and also briefly blocked the entrance to Santarém airport, one of the region’s main transportation hubs.

“The attempt to intimidate companies and workers through violence exceeds every democratic limit,” the Sao Paulo State Federation of Industries, Brazil’s largest manufacturing union, said in a statement. “Such actions violate property rights, threaten jobs, put lives at risk and erode the legal security that sustains investment and development.”

–With help from Mariana Durao and Daniel Carvalho.

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