In recent years, the military have been the main opposers of the
demarcation of Indian lands located on the border strip. They say that
the border must be "enlivened" with the presence of non-Indians and
that the existence opf large Indian areas threatens the sovereignty of
the country. The attempts to review the bounds of the Yanomami
territory, close to the border with Venezuela, derive from this
position. Several other areas were reduced and some of them were not
emarcated for the same reason.
Concerned about this situation, the Council for the Articulation
of Indian Peoples and Organizations of Brazil decided to hold a meeting
with the military ministers and tell them that the demarcation of
Indian lands "does not mean that the Indians are going to create
independent States or that they will become a threat to the national
security," as Bare' Indian Orlando Melgueiro told the minister of the
General Staff of the Armed Forces, general Antonio Rocha Veneu. The
meeting was held last week with the presence of four Indian leaders,
who also met the minister of Navy, admiral Ivan da Silveira Serpa.
The admiral affirmed very clearly that the position of the
military remains the same: the Indian peoples must be integrated into
the society, because their "confinement" - the word he used to refer to
the respect for the cultural diversity of the country - can give rise
to conflicts similar to the ones we see today in Yugoslavia, South
Africa and Ireland. The Indians replied that the Constitution ensures
respect for the culture of each people.
As the discussion on the demarcation of the Yanomami territory
continued, the minister of Navy mentioned another worry of the
military: the "possible restrictions" which, according to him, may
prevent the Armed Forces from entering Indian lands. The Indians said
that the issue of the movement of military troops in Indian areas would
be settled through the regulation, in a complementary law, of what the
Federal Constitution provides for, would entitle the Armed Forces to
operate in Indian lands.
In the meeting with the minister of the General Staff of the Armed
Forces, general Antonio Rocha Veneu, it was seen that what the military
resists most is the demarcation of Indian lands which they consider
"large". Admiral Tasso Villar de Aquino, vice-chief of the General
Staff, recognized that the Constitution provides for the rights of the
Indians, but he added that "You must check whether the area is not
excessively large." It will be a difficult task to conciliate the
position of the military with the Indian rights provides for the
Constitution, since it does not include any provision restricting the
demarcation of lands located on the border region.
Brasilia, October 29th, 1992
CIMI - Indianist Missionary Council