INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
- Cambeba indian elected general coordinator of COIAB
Andre Cruz, a Cambeba indian, was elected last week as general
coordinator of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian
Amazon (COIAB), substituting Orlando Bare. The election took
place during an extraordinary assembly of COIAB, held in Manaus,
from July 20 to the 25th, at which 70 indigenous leaders,
representing 48 organizations and 140 tribes were present.
On the 23rd, participants staged a protest in the center of
Manaus to demand support from the population for the demarcation
of indigenous land and guarantees for their territories. The leaders
are very concerned about the upcoming constitutional revision,
which threatens to undo some of the headway made regarding the
rights of the indigenous peoples of Brazil. The deadline (October
93) set for the demarcation of their lands is quickly running out
and very little has been done.
In an official note, from the assembly, COIAB informed that
its ex-coordinator, Orlando Bare, was removed from his position
"for acts incompatible with the organization", adding that "for
this reason he is no longer authorized to sign any document on
behalf of COIAB or represent the organization anywhere".
Another indigenous leader, Orlandino Melgueiro da Silva, was
also substituted and disauthorized from representing COIAB as
their representative at the Amazonian Work Group (GTA) meetings
and as one of the coordinators of the Indigenous Organizations of
the Amazon Basin, based in Equador.
The new coordination team of COIAB includes Amarildo Machado
(Tikano), Jose Severino (Manchineri), Joao Satere (Satere Mawe)
and Pedro Mendes Gabriel (Tikano).
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