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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by AGEN (Agencia Ecumenica de Noticias)
and Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz.
Number 86, July 8, 1993
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INDIGENOUS QUESTIONS
- Death threat made against Franciscan sister
The Center for the Defence of Human Rights, "Marcal Souza", in
Mato Grosso, has denounced death threats made by landowners and
lumber companies, against Sister Elsa Zotti and her Franciscan
colleagues. The sisters are defending the rights of the
indigenous people of Escondido, in the Cotriguacu region, to have
their lands demarcated.
At the beginning of the month, farm-hands, Claudio Detz and
Joao Albuquerque, declared in a civil law office that they "heard
the vice mayor of Cotriguacu, Ireno Pavan, state that Sister Elsa
Zotti would have been murdered, if he and the mayor hadn't
prevented it. Ireno said that this could happen within the next
few months if the sisters continue to defend the demarcation of
Indian territories".
One of the Franciscan sisters, Salete wrote to a friend:
"We are being persecuted and treated badly by the oppression.
We never know if we'll still be alive tomorrow. As you can see
from the document, the date to eliminate one of our colleagues,
Sister Elsa, has already been set.
"The lumber merchants, the owners of Cotriguacu, who never
tire of accumulating wealth, have declared war on all
missionaries and indigenists. The suffering only makes our faith
and commitment to the indigenous cause grow greater and firmer.
The forces of the death culture, produced by the greed in the
hearts of the dominators, want to destroy the life forces.
"All the lands of Mato Grosso are being invaded by the
lumber merchants and miners, and with these invasions have come
prostitution, corruption of the leaders, the hiring of Indians as
gunslingers, division and cultural disorganization. The Nambiwara
Indians are armed against one another, by the loggers. Forty
truck loads of mahogany leave the Cinta Larga peoples land every
day: within the last 4 years, the Cinta Larga have been reduced
to just 200 people; the majority of the women are contaminated
with venereal diseases, brought in by the miners and lumberjacks.
The Toro people suffer the same fate.
This is the situation of the indigenous peoples in Mato
Grosso. We pray that the marks of death will be overcome by the
signs of life. May the Spirit of the Lord guide us", concludes
Sister Salete.
- Pataxos expelled from land by Military Police
On July 6th, the Military Police of Bahia removed 35 families
of Pataxos Indians from an estate in Arraial da Ajuda, 705 kms
from Salvador. The Pataxos occupied the estate 40 days ago, where
they put up straw huts and planted corn, cassava, beans and
coffee.
"We don't want the forest cut down on this land. Our ancestors
lived here. The court decision is a disgrace", said the Pataxo
chief, Ipe. A court decision was given in favor of the Cosvar
Agropecuaria Company, to take repossession of the estate, called
Santo Amaro.
The Pataxos lived in the region until they were expelled at
the turn of the century.
- Indian reserve invaded
Agents of the Federal Police and Ibama (Brazilian Institute
for the Environment) are in the region of Vale Guapore, in Mato
Grosso, on the frontier with Bolivia, to investigate the invasion
of the Nhambiquara reservation, by logging companies and miners.
According to Funai (National Foundation for Indigenous
Questions), the loggers and miners have convinced some of the
nhambiquaras to help them, and created division among the tribe.
Fifteen days ago, two white men and two Indians were caught
robbing wood from the Enawne-Nawe territory in the northwestern
part of the State.
The NGO organization, Awaru, accused Elizabeth Villas Boas,
who sometimes presents herself as a teacher, sometimes as a
lawyer, of soliciting Indians to sell noble wood.
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