Bolsonaro Says Will Veto Bill Allowing Sale to Foreigners of Large Rural Land Areas

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday, December 24th, that he will veto the bill providing the sale of land to foreigners. PL 2963/19 was passed by the Senate on Tuesday, December 15th, and facilitates the purchase of rural land by individuals and companies from abroad. The bill is pending at the Chamber of Deputies.

“I heard about the bill today and I will study it better tomorrow. There are a number of limitations: each country can buy a percentage. Which country do you think will buy here if this bill is passed in the Chamber? Do you think it is fair to sell land to foreigners? If we start selling, we will never recover this land“, he said.

In the President’s opinion, a country could, for instance, buy land from neighboring municipalities and form large rural properties. “If you take three neighboring municipalities, and if a country buys 10% in each of these municipalities, we will have a property the size of Rio de Janeiro. They will do whatever they want, they want to buy these lands because they know what they have underground and they will start to explore. That can’t happen,” he continued.

Bolsonaro said that he talked to senators and that, so far, he has not been persuaded of the project’s positive points. “It passed in the Senate and some senators said that the bill is good, but they failed to convince me. If the Chamber approves, it has my veto. Then Congress can overturn my veto or not. It is not patriotic. We can’t allow Brazil to be bought. You don’t see this in other countries across the world,” he concluded.