Valéria Santos, national coordinator of the CPT, stated that only in the Cerrado biome (the richest savannah in biodiversity in the world), five types of highly polluting agrochemicals were identified in the waters of cisterns and cacimbas (shallow excavations to obtain water) used by rural communities, quilombolas (Afro-Brazilians) and indigenous people.

In addition to pointing to this silent poisoning, Santos warned about the use of agrochemicals as weapons against these communities and as a way to expel them from their territories.

“In 2021 and 2022, a community in Buruticupu, Maranhão state (northeast) was sprayed with agrochemicals, in what constitutes a chemical attack, leaving several inhabitants with burned skin and itching,” recalled the coordinator.

Santos certified that, even in places that are not directly affected by the aerial spraying of poison, communities faced difficulties in growing food due to the level of soil, water and air contamination, which aggravates the food insecurity situation of the population.

“The agrochemical does not only fall on this monoculture crop, it ends up going to those in the communities or in the yards and burns the plants. “So the staff has a lot of difficulty harvesting healthy fruits or harvesting other foods other than soybeans,” he said.

He denounced that people talk about a tendency towards an exorbitant growth in violence against people, “caused by what we call chemical warfare.”

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