Rural conflicts rise again in Brazil during election year

Brazil’s rural conflicts increased again in the first half of 2026, reversing a sharp decline recorded the previous year as the country prepares for presidential, legislative and regional elections.

The Pastoral Land Commission recorded 841 disputes between January and June, 5.4% more than the 798 registered in the first half of 2025. The previous year had brought a 32.1% decrease from the 1,175 conflicts recorded during the first six months of 2024.

The disputes included 711 over land, 100 over water and 30 involving rural forced labor. The Amazonian states of Maranhão, with 156 cases, Pará, with 90, Rondônia and Amazonas, with 63 each, recorded the highest numbers. Bahia, in the northeast, recorded another 85 cases. Many conflicts involved small and large farmers competing for public land that had recently been cleared.

Despite the increase in violence, the number of deaths fell to six from 27 in the same period last year. Cecilia Gómez, the commission’s national coordinator, said, "The Brazilian countryside is far from what we call a place of peace, where people do not need to resist in order to remain on the land."

Gómez attributed this year’s increase to rising land values, particularly in the most productive areas, as well as growing interest in critical minerals and rare earths often found in traditional communities and among small farmers. The Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network said rural violence traditionally increases during Brazilian election years because political disputes can turn territorial conflicts into tools of polarization.

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The Brazilian countryside is far from what we call a place of peace, where people do not need to resist in order to remain on the land.