Caixa, BNDES and Banco CNH finance company on Guajajara indigenous land in MA

Artikel asli diterbitkan oleh Repórter Brasil.

Central Bank rules prohibit loans for farms overlapping with approved indigenous lands, but the bank’s protective rules do not include areas already declared – such as the Bacurizinho Indigenous Land, in Maranhão – still in the final stages of land regularization

FROM GRAJAÚ (MA) — An agricultural company obtained millions in financing from Caixa Econômica Federal, BNDES (National Bank for Economic and Social Development) and Banco CNH to expand its activities on properties overlapping the Bacurizinho Indigenous Land, in Maranhão. GenesisAgro S/A, focused on the production of commodities such as soybeans and corn and cattle farming, linked three loans obtained between 2021 and 2022 to farms registered within the perimeter declared by the Ministry of Justice as traditionally occupied by the Tenetehara-Guajajara people. In addition, in 2023, GenesisAgro also offered fixed income securities on the stock exchange with the support of Itaú.

The indigenous people report land grabbing, increased violence and say they feel trapped. “There are invasions, farmers are dividing everything up. They are entering our area, which is demarcated,” worries chief Lucilene Lopes Guajajara, leader of the Arymy village. “It’s not easy for us here, it’s dangerous,” she adds.

Financial institutions have policies that respect fundamental rights and guarantees and said, in response to the report, that they do not finance business on indigenous lands (read more below). 

The Central Bank prohibits the granting of loans to enterprises located on approved or regularized indigenous lands — the last two stages of formal recognition of an Indigenous Territory. But it excludes protection for declared areas , such as the portion of the Bacurizinho Indigenous Territory where the rural properties that GenesisAgro presented to the banks when requesting the loans are located.

“Knowing whether the area is declared or delimited is not the most important thing. What is important is that it has historically been used for an essential purpose for the subsistence and development of an indigenous community,” criticizes federal prosecutor Hilton Araújo de Melo, from the Federal Public Ministry of Maranhão. Without analyzing the specific case of GenesisAgro, he notes that when a certain economic activity disrupts the way of life of an indigenous community, it “needs to be stopped.” 

The demarcation of the Bacurizinho indigenous land was originally completed in 1979, when 82,000 hectares were set aside for the exclusive use of the Tenetehara-Guajajara. However, the act left out much of the territory claimed by the people, including watercourses considered important to their survival. Therefore, in 2007, Funai (the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples) established new boundaries for the area, expanding it to 134,000 hectares. 

GenesisAgro sign in a location overlapping the Porquinhos IT, declared by the Ministry of Justice as a place of traditional indigenous occupation. The ordinance was annulled by the Supreme Court and the community appealed (Photo: Tiago Miotto/Repórter Brasil)

A year later, in 2008, the review of the boundaries was recognized by the Ministry of Justice — meaning that the federal government now has authorization for demarcation with physical and georeferencing markers. In March 2025, the Regional Court of the 1st Region confirmed the validity of the new delimitation and ordered the regularization of the land. The decision requires the Union and Funai to present a detailed plan for concluding the demarcation process. 

“This is a declared area, and especially one that was declared a long time ago. No one can be surprised by the level of discussion and legal uncertainty surrounding the acquisition of a piece of land within these territories. This is inconceivable to us,” added prosecutor Melo.

Furthermore, the Bacurizinho Indigenous Land is part of a mosaic of indigenous lands that also includes the Porquinhos Indigenous Land of the Canela-Apãnjekra. GenesisAgro also occupies areas in this territory, which is also undergoing a boundary review. The company was contacted by reporters, but did not respond to questions. The area remains open.

Caixa secured R$18 million in credit

Between August 2021 and April 2022, GenesisAgro signed at least seven financing contracts with Caixa Econômica Federal, totaling R$17.88 million. In the largest of these contracts, worth R$5 million, the CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) of the property that received financing partially overlapped the declared area of ​​the Bacurizinho TI. At that time, the revision of the TI boundaries had already been recognized by the Ministry of Justice for more than a decade.

The contract with Caixa was signed in April 2022, with a nine-year term for repayment. In August 2022, the Federal Court of Maranhão ordered the suspension of rural environmental registries overlapping with the Bacurizinho TI, including the CAR linked to the financing.

In December 2021, Caixa had already provided R$595,000 for a second property of the company within the IT expansion area, a complex called Fazendas Pontal and Boa Sorte. The credit comes from the Moderfrota program, aimed at modernizing the agricultural fleet.

When questioned, Caixa informed through its press office that it “does not comment on or provide contract data, in compliance with banking secrecy”, but said that it verifies the overlaps of CAR (Rural Environmental Registry) with indigenous lands, including “those Under Study, Delimited and Declared”. Read the full response.

São João soybean farm has part of its area overlapping with the declared area of ​​the Bacurizinho IT in Maranhão (Photo: Tiago Miotto/Repórter Brasil)

BNDES financed the purchase of machinery

In August 2022, Banco CNH granted a loan of R$765,000 to the same GenesisAgro group within the Bacurizinho IT that was financed by Caixa for the acquisition of machinery — the Pontal and Boa Sorte Farms. The contract also aimed to modernize the fleet of tractors and other implements on the property.

Another contract with Banco CNH—R$1.8 million, again for the purchase of machinery—was earmarked for a third GenesisAgro farm, Fazenda Grajaú, located outside the indigenous area, on the banks of the BR-226 highway. From there, it takes just an hour by highway to reach the Guajajara area.

Based in the Netherlands, CNH Industrial Capital describes itself as “the financial arm of CNH and Iveco Group, two of the world’s largest capital goods companies.” Both companies originated from the merger between the Dutch CNH Global and the former Italian group Fiat and have as their main shareholder the Exor group . In 2023, the CNH Industrial group had a net profit of US$2.4 billion and revenue of US$24.7 billion.

In the case of both contracts between Banco CNH and GenesisAgro, the resources come from BNDES. As the bank does not have branches, it works in partnership with other financial institutions in operations called indirect .

When questioned, Banco CNH Industrial responded that the “previous environmental analysis” of the CAR of the Pontal and Boa Sorte farms, overlapping with the Bacurizinho TI, found “that it was active, with no pending issues, irregularities or restrictions that would make the operation unfeasible”. The bank assured that it “is constantly improving its practices and procedures for analyzing the socio-environmental regularity of the proponents”.

BNDES, in turn, said it had not found any record of this financial transaction in its systems — and therefore did not comment on it directly. However, it told reporters that “environmental and social issues are a priority” and that it “does not tolerate any violations of the rights of traditional peoples and communities.” Check out the full responses here .

None of the banks reported how they could guarantee that the machinery financed for the property outside the indigenous land would not be moved and used on the company’s properties that overlap the protected territory.

There are agricultural machines from the CNH group in operation on other GenesisAgro properties within the Guajajara territory. The Repórter Brasil team registered a New Holland tractor at the Piranhas farm headquarters, registered in the company’s name. And Ibama itself seized a Case IH wheel loader on another farm belonging to the group in the protected area, where a micro-company produced charcoal in partnership with GenesisAgro.

Itaú opens paths for private investors

More recently, in 2023, a public offering of fixed income securities launched CRAs (Agribusiness Receivables Certificates) backed by GenesisAgro debts on the market. The operation, worth R$50 million, was coordinated by Itaú.

CRAs are private financing instruments for agribusiness, which originated in 2005. Initially, the volume of these operations was modest, but that has changed and recent years have seen record numbers of transactions. According to a report by O Joio e O Trigo, in April 2023, the stock of CRAs reached R$103.6 billion, more than double the figure achieved just two years earlier and thirty times more than the amount recorded in 2015.

In a statement, the bank guarantees that it “does not finance agricultural production on indigenous lands” and that its clients “are subject to a strict socio-environmental assessment process”. Check out the full response here.