O programa de assessoria técnica social e ambiental à reforma agrária - Ates e cooperativa do MSTno Espírito Santo

Abstract

This work aims to describe and reflect on the experience of implementing the Program of Technical Assistance to Social and Environmental Reform (Ates) in some settlements in the northern region of Espírito Santo by a cooperative established and managed by members of the Landless Workers Movement. The institutional format of the program enabled entities other than public agencies to receive resources for service provision in the settlements, under the coordination of the National Institute of Colonization and Land Reform (INCRA). Since then, many expectations about how to provide assistance appear everyday during the provision of services in the settlements. In the case of Espirito Santo, for instance, the LWM takes on the task of providing technical assistance in settlements where it is present through Cooptraes. With this, the movement brings in the subject of political activism, which becomes the characteristic of the work of the cooperative's technical staff. Thus, this setup program Ates in Espírito Santo causes significant changes in the relationship between the actors involved, which can be seen everyday in services, either through dispute over material and symbolic resources, the appearance of new demands or through the actors' own adaptation to the dynamics of the program's execution. The aim of this study was to analyze the position and understanding of the actors on this process, and from this analysis, to examine the limits and possibilities of this experience. For both aims, we interviewed Incra employees, technicians, leaders and LWM settled families, and monitored the work of a technicians team of Cooptraes in four settlements in the northern region of the state. From the analysis of data and from the dialogue with the literature and policy documents of the Program (laws, operating manuals, executive standards, among others) we could identify a field of tensions between the actors, which is directly related to the fact that LMV is the executor of the Program, due to the way the movement operates. From this field research we could identify new practices and meanings in the relationship between the actors involved (especially Incra and MST). On one hand we observe that the the presence of LWM has enhanced the performance of the service (because of its proximity to the target population), on the other hand, we found there are also some continuities in the experience with regard to the history of technical assistance in the settlements, for example, the poor conditions in which the services are provided