Reconhecimento de domínio e a morosidade processual: uma análise dos entraves no processo de titulação do território quilombola Sesmaria do Jardim, Baixada Maranhense, Maranhão, Brasil

Abstract

The right to land is guaranteed by article 68 of the ADCT of the 1988 Federal Constitution, by article 229 of the 1989 Constitution of Maranhão, as well as by laws, decrees and international treaties. The present work aims to study the process of recognition of the Quilombola Territory Sesmaria do Jardim, in the municipality of Matinha, in the Microregion of Baixada Maranhense. This territory is composed of three communities: Bom Jesus, Patos and São Caetano. The study analyzes the obstacles faced by leaders while waiting for title, highlighting land conflicts arising from the private appropriation of quilombola lands by farmers, large landowners, land grabbers and squatters who raise buffalo, install fences in areas of collective use and deforest babassu palm groves. The research has the following specific objectives: a) to analyze the ancestral history and the challenges to preserve memories of the Sesmaria do Jardim territory, Baixada Maranhense; b) to examine the legal/legislative basis for issuing titles to quilombola territories in Brazil and Maranhão; c) to study the obstacles that contribute to the slowness in the process of granting titles to quilombola territories, with an emphasis on the Sesmaria do Jardim process. This is an exploratory case study, with a qualitative approach and inductive method. The research techniques used were bibliographical review, discussion groups and documentary analysis of the administrative process of the Sesmaria do Jardim territory. Given the above, the research seeks to answer the following question: How does the slowness in the process of granting quilombola land titles contribute to the violation of human rights in the Sesmaria do Jardim Territory? The work is organized into three sections. In the first section, I address the Sesmaria do Jardim Territory, its historicity, composition, and the meanings of quilombo and quilombismo. I analyze traditional practices, the ancestral relationship with nature, and the sustainable use of resources, highlighting the insurgency of quilombola women and the violence they still face today. In the second section, I analyze the legal nature of federal and state legislation, detailing the administrative procedures at INCRA and ITERMA from the first claims of the Sesmaria do Jardim Territory until its opening at the state agency. In the third section, I analyze the obstacles that contribute to the slowness in quilombola titling, highlighting institutional and structural racism, in addition to the role of notary offices as central agents in land conflicts. I also address the delay in returning the supposed lands incident to quilombola territories and the violence suffered by leaders as a result of this slowness. Finally, I analyze the State's discourse that "we have no resources", often used to justify its lack of action. It is concluded that the main cause of the slowness is the lack of interest on the part of the State, both federal and state. This negligence goes beyond delay: it involves physical and psychological violence and the forced removal of leaders under threat of death. The combination of slowness and violence directly attacks fundamental rights and the dignity of quilombolas. The State of Maranhão is as responsible as the landowners or worse, acting as such by allowing their interests to prevail over our ancestral rights.