Os camponeses da ilha de São José e a construção da Usina Hidroelétrica de Estreito: da terra de trabalho ao território do devir

Abstract

This research aims to understand the struggle for the continuity of the way of life of the peasants expelled from the island of São José, due to the implementation of the hydroelectric power plant from Estreito, currently these subjects reside in the Mirindiba settlement. The island of São José, now submerged, it is located in the municipality of Babaçulândia, Tocantins, there resided 74 peasant families who were expelled from their lands under the old claim of progress materialized in the technical device that is the dam. Of these 74 families, 18 came to form the Mirindiba settlement, located in Araguaína, Tocantins. This settlement is the result of class struggle, because it demonstrates the resistance of the peasantry against the irresponsibility of the Consórcio Estreito Energia (CESTE), responsible for the construction of the dam. To subsidize this analysis, a theoretical review was carried out from actors discussing the peasantry, the underdevelopment, the territory, the capitalist mode of production and other categories used in the text. The empirical research (fieldwork) was aimed at the production of maps, the execution of interviews and the collection of information necessary for the territorial analysis. The immediate contact with the subjects of the research was present, thus, it was possible to notice in loco the afflictions that the expulsion process caused in that population; irreversible material and social damages were observed, in addition to psychological problems, after all the expulsion was not a peaceful act, but rather struggle and refusal by the peasantry. The Estreito UHE went into activity in the year 2011, but its implementation process took place throughout the first decade of this century. The main results verified were: 1) The peasants of the today settlement Mirindiba were expelled from their original territory, the island of São José, through the historical process of struggle of classes by the use of territory, in which the state played an important role in favor of capital; 2) The peasantry did not react passively to this process, in its struggle relied on the help of entities such as MAB; 3) in the new territory, these peasants suffer from the adversities of the new address that compromise the productivity of the work, they are stunned by the new commercial dynamics, which in a certain way made them more dependent on the market. But, from this battle emerged hope, alive in the speeches and actions of the peasants, which little by little became synonymous of resistance.