APROPRIAÇÃO CAPITALISTA DA TERRA NOS TERRITÓRIOS DOS CAIAPÓ E DOS OFAIÉ NA REGIÃO DO BOLSÃO (MS)

Abstract

This research aims to analyze the genesis of capitalist land ownership in the Bolsão region (Mato Grosso do Sul), based on the theoretical foundation that considers the reproduction of latifundium as a constitutive element of the capitalist mode of production, that is, as a result of the unequal and combined development of capitalism. The appropriation of land, which currently comprises the eastern region of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, began in the early decades of the 19th century with the arrival of migrants from Minas Gerais and São Paulo, led by the families Garcia and Lopes, who were searching for areas suitable for livestock farming. The occupation pattern was based on the demarcation of land claims, forming vast estates (latifundia), which, over time, were reproduced and adapted to new functions and contexts. The region’s concentrated land structure has recently facilitated the territorialization of capitalist agriculture of sugarcane and eucalyptus. However, the appropriated lands were not "empty spaces"; rather, the territorial formation of Bolsão was structured through mechanisms of Indigenous expropriation and extermination, particularly affecting the Caiapó and Ofaié peoples. Thus, the hypothesis reaffirmed in this study is that the genesis of capitalist land ownership in Bolsão was founded on the dispossession of Indigenous lands, reproducing the contradictory logic of rentier capitalism, which both establishes and preserves latifundia. Consequently, this process enabled capital production and its expanded reproduction, aligning with the rentier imperatives of the capitalist system. The forced adaptation to the expansionist agro-pastoral model, based on land concentration, led to the disintegration of the Ofaié’s cultural systems and significant demographic losses, while the Caiapó faced near-total extinction. The research methodology involved: literature review of authors analyzing agrarian issues through the lens of the unequal and contradictory development of capitalism; the organization of secondary data; documentary research in institutional archives, such as the Public Archive of Mato Grosso and the AGRAER collection; the analysis of legal actions contesting the declaratory ordinance of the Ofaié-Xavante Indigenous Land; as well as fieldwork and interviews. The results obtained from the research confirm that the territorial formation of Bolsão, resulted in the extermination of many of its original inhabitants, thus exposing the inherent violence in the constitution of capitalist land ownership.

Keywords: Capitalist land ownership. Territorial formation. Rentier capitalism. Agrarian question. Indigenous lands.