Yanomami victory still leaves battles to come
The decision by President Fernando Collor de Mello of Brazil on
15 November to declare the entire traditional territory of the
Yanomami Indians a protected indigenous area has been hailed as
a victory by supporters of indigenous rights. The campaigners
warn, however, that pressure from the military and mining
companies to operate in the area is likely to continue.
The presidential decree marks the success of a campaign
which has lasted over 13 years. The decision was in doubt up to
the last moment, and in the weeks preceding it the Brazilian
press was full of leaks claiming that military opposition would
succeed in having the area reduced.
The former military commander of Amazonia criticised the
decision, saying that the President 'is anxious to please
international organisations at the risk of endangering Brazilian
sovereignty'. The military have tried to claim that the
Brazilian Yanomami would unite with the Yanomami across the
border in Venezuela to form an independent state. This idea is
scoffed at by anthropologists, who point to the lack of cohesion
among the various Yanomami communities, which are divided into
a number of language groups. 'It would take about 200 years,'
one remarked.
President Collor's decision to resist domestic pressure is
likely to reflect his love of grand gestures, and a desire to
enhance Brazil's international image as a protector of ecology.
The new decree, however, does not exclude one of the main threats
to the Yanomami, mining, though it makes it conditional on
authorisation by the Federal Congress if it decides that it is
in the national interest, and in consultation with the indigenous
community. Pressure for mineral prospecting is likely to
continue: the Brazilian National Department of Mineral
Production reported that it has received 717 applications for
prospecting licences relating to gold, silver, tin, platinum,
manganese, tungsten, tantalum and other minerals.
Other continuing problems will be finance to demarcate the
area physically and keep out intruders, and continued funding of
health programmes, after the introduction of malaria by the
goldminers who invaded the area after 1987. In the period 1987-
90 it was estimated that up to 1500, or 12% of the Brazilian
Yanomami had been killed by disease and malnutrition, and from
January to August 1991 the Ministry of Health registered 4000
cases of malaria among the Yanomami.
Among the staunchest defenders of the Yanomami have been the
Brazilian Catholic Church's indigenous agency, CIMI, and the
local diocese of Roraima, where the Consolata missionaries have
worked with the Yanomami since 1948. The bishop of Boa Vista,
Dom Aldo Mongiano, suffered verbal abuse and threats from
goldminers and traders in Roraima for his defence of the
Yanomami.
FURTHER INFORMATION: FRANCIS MCDONAGH phone 071-354 0883
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