Without giving too much information; I am an immigrant to Brazil and purchased several hundreds of hectares of land and property in Brazil together with several of my siblings. We built several houses and invested millions, our life savings, into building a commercial farm. Everything was prospering incredibly well and we were living a dream.
Recently, we had a lawsuit filed against us by indigenous people who claim the land belongs to their ancestors. We went to our own lawyers to fight the lawsuit, we had legally and rightfully purchased the land, not to mention the millions spent on investing on farm equipment, warehouses, infrastructure etc. At the least, we wanted to reach a settlement where we can compromise and give them a percentage of the land, or pay them some restitution money.
But our lawyers told us something that has literally killed all hope and is making our family desperate beyond all hope. Apparently, the indigenous people we are fighting against are just pawns and do not hold any legal claim to the land at all—but they are backed by a huge organized crime group who is stealing land from people all over the country in this same manner, not just from foreigners, but from fellow Brazilians and even corporate owned land.
The organized crime group is so powerful that they have all the judges and courts in the palm of their hand. Once the matter goes to court a mock trial takes place where the defendants are not even given an opportunity to testify, and the judgment automatically goes to the plaintiffs—to the indigenous people who are backed by the organized crime group. And even if the trial were to fairly proceed, the corrupt or intimidated judges would still rule in favor of the indigenous people regardless.
We were told that the next step is for armed “policeman” or armed private security guards, a part of that criminal group, will come in and force us out of our homes at gunpoint, essentially making us homeless.
The trial has already taken place (without us present, we were not even informed of the trial until after the judgment was ruled) and we already lost the case in court. The only thing left now is for us to be forcefully removed. The organized crime group is so powerful that none of the mayors or governors can do anything.
We are absolutely stumped and several of my siblings are about to lose their minds it seems. The most grievous vexing thing about all this is that we have several children who are under ten years old. We have nowhere to go and all of the time we invested here and all of our life savings poured into here are all about to be lost.
This is just a last resort, grasping at straws, but is there anything at all that we can do?
For anyone who reads this, please take this as a warning and do not ever visit this cursed country. It is a lawless country with no basic laws protecting anyone.
We are about to be homeless with everything we have stolen from us!
victimofbrasilcrime,
If what you said is really true, you should evacuate to safety right away all members of your family. Organized criminals in Brazil are indeed ruthless so you should get out of that property. These types of people in Brazil won´t think twice to eliminate individuals who stand in their way.
You´ve been here 10 years so any member should be able to speak Portuguese. To verify if their claim is legitimate is to involve the government agency that takes care of demarcation and affairs with indigenous land. It´s called FUNAI. I´ll give you a link
with the names of people you can e-mail about your situation. Don´t go to a local police or any local government official. Just contacting them will give way to justice for you but could also endanger your family. So, in any case, even if you finally win, it wouldn´t be safe for you and your family to be working
on the same land again. Maybe the government can buy the land from you.
This government agency is in Brasilia...
http://www.justica.gov.br/Acesso/instit … ndio-funai
Proceed with caution... Good luck!
robal
Hi
I am so sad to hear about the situation ,i too have bought land and built property i am from England ,my wife is Brazilian i hear stories like this and am amazed of the indepth corruption in Brazil.
In what area do you have this problem,i mean where in Brazil.
I can only suggest you go to the goverment and not the local police and i wish you and your family best of luck.
Chris.
Thank you for the advice. I will definitely look into it.
victimofbrazilcrime,
The government agency that approved the sale of the rural land you bought was INCRA. If it was an illegitimate sale because it was part of an indigenous territory, the sale could have not been approved unless INCRA was in collusion with the crime organization.
Inside an Indian territory, the cacique (chief) is the leader. Police can´t go in. Only FUNAI officials with Federal Police can investigate. Did you notice any local police coming in? If yes, then it is not a part of the indigenous territory.
INCRA is the only one that approves or declare null and void any rural land sale.
Sometimes I wonder if those circumstances were pre-planned by the crime organization together with INCRA to sell you an illegal land (indigenous) to extort
money from you and then claiming the land later to drive you away from your purchased land.
I have a question regarding the size of the land. Is the módulo fiscal (size of the land
depending on the municipality) falls within the allowed size of a commercial farm
in that respective geographical location?
Again INCRA is the one responsible for the sale. It is the agency that declares a sale null and void. Maybe you can sue the seller and INCRA to recuperate your money.
Remember that crime organizations in Brazil have assassination squads. So you are now warned to evacuate your family to safety!
Contact FUNAI first. After that, a chain reaction should result to resolve your problem. They will come
together with Federal Police!
robal
Thank you so much for the invaluable information. My brother is the one doing most of the work with our lawyers, but I will be sure to forward this info to him just in case the lawyers missed it.
I am so sorry to hear of your troubles.
Organized crime is a very big problem in most places. In Guatemala there was a hit on my ex bf's head. In Peru, there was a hit on my head and my children's heads because we LIVED there and the "Don" ASSUMED (he was an idiot) that I had money from selling drugs. Not that it could even be possible I am living on my dead husband's pension as death benefits.
On another note, This would make a very interesting movie. And selling your story as a script could bring back some of your money.
The most important thing is to get out of there alive.
While I was in Colombia, I lost everything I owned in California because my bank card was stolen and the storage people didn't contact me, they couldn't charge my new card and just went ahead and auctioned everything off. I am writing a book about healing form massive material loss as a result.
Keep in touch with me if you would like to read my book. I plan to publish very soon.
Take care and keep us all informed.
What about seeing if the American Embassy there could help?
Reminds me of the story back in the early 2000's where Brasilians who where selling land in the interior supposedly had gold on it
They used a shotgun to load up metalic pieces and fired them into the mountains to make people think there was metals up there if checked with a metal detector
Brasilians are pretty slick and brutally dishonest
Like the guy in the Michael Palin video on Brasil said - NO, people from Salvador are not lazy. The people in RIO will invite you to dinner and forget to tell you the address !
BEWARE
BEST to be married to a Brasilian vs coming into the country as immigrants
You are targets for everything
Definetively check with INCRA.
As for the hoodlums, sounds like you have a case of land grabbing squatters.
Get your guns, cause you are in a homestead.
robal wrote:victimofbrazilcrime,
The government agency that approved the sale of the rural land you bought was INCRA. If it was an illegitimate sale because it was part of an indigenous territory, the sale could have not been approved unless INCRA was in collusion with the crime organization.
INCRA is the only one that approves or declare null and void any rural land sale.
Sometimes I wonder if those circumstances were pre-planned by the crime organization together with INCRA to sell you an illegal land (indigenous) to extort
money from you and then claiming the land later to drive you away from your purchased land.
Do these things only happen in rural areas or also in big cities?
Mostly in Rural Areas. There is a huge gray area concerning what's Native Sovereignty, Government Owned Land, and what could be granted through quitclaim deed.
Unless your broker did the due dilligency in finding out about these facts, you were misrepresented in all facts concerning the transaction.
The Legal Recourse should also include to Sue the Broker, and Report this to the Local CRECI Region
The act of seizing crop growing land and grazing land through illegal and ilegitimate means is called "Grilagem", and it so happens very often. It also may involve falsifying documents and records.
https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grilagem_de_terras
In urban areas the only fear is when either you have not paid taxes, condo fees where approprietate, or left the property unattended for year, where the occupant or squatter can initiatve a process of "usucapião".
I should stress, ad nauseum, that in buying property, specially land holdings, and specially on Rural or Remote Areas that you alway use a qualified and licensed Real Estate Broker, and an Attorney to take you through the acquisition processes.
I´m sorry for what you have been through and I respect your family pain.
I´m a brazilian anthropologists (USP)* who happend to be especialized in indigenous people and I can tell you that they dont need a certification saying that they are "real indigenous people". Such thing doesnt exist.
Although the Brazilian constitution recognizes the rights of indigenous people to live in their ancestral land, some indigenous groups continue to face persecution in various forms. There are a wide range of problems, which indigenous people face great difficulties to deal with io order to survive. There is no clean water, They cant hunt or fish in many indigenous reservation due to pollution; suicide mortality rate is about three tome higher than non-indigenous ppl; alcoholism and depression are increasing extremely fast, malnutrition, domestic violence, and child prostituion are also huge problem in their communities. Its already difficult enough for them ..
My advise for you is clear: Dont fight with this people.
Also dont belive if someone says such thing like " ah...they are not even real indigenous ppl". Simply because any anthropological study can prove its wrong. There are no fake indigenous ppl claimimg land in Brazil. This is fake news, from anti-indigenous agroindustry who wants to steal their traditional land. Sorry to dissapoint you.
Please, make yourself and your family a favor and let it go from this land but try to ask for compensation from the government, which is actually your right and the law MUST support you. It might take sometime but the government need to pay you for the land.
Perhaps you could rent something while you wait for compensation. They must pay you in Títulos da Dívida Agrária (TDA) at some point.
You can start a business in a new location and I´m sure it will be prosperous. Its bad luck to start a business in an ancient indigenous land anyway 
All the best
Gabriela Pereira -
*USP is one of the most prestigious higher education and research institutions in Latin America.
Articles to help you in your expat project in Brazil
Have you always dreamed of dancing to the rhythm of a Brazilian carnival? Do you wish to enjoy the sand and the ...
Brazilians enjoy exercise and athletics. Perhaps this is no surprise, as the weather makes it ideal to spend time ...
Rio de Janeiro may conjure up images of golden beaches populated by unimaginably beautiful people or of streets ...
It's much easier these days to get a cell phone in Brazil, and phones and calling plans are inexpensive ...
Brazil can be a romantic country, and you may want to marry here. Perhaps you even want to remain in Brazil ...
If you're single and ready to mingle, then you might want to try your hand at dating after you've settled ...
