NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by AGEN (Agencia Ecumenica de Noticias)
and Servico Brasileiro de Justica e Paz.
Number 100, October 14, 1993
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INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Loggers accused of killing Kanamari indian.
The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) on October 3 accused
three loggers of killing twenty year old Jose Kanamari, a
Kanamari indian. The loggers, Leotoero Acreano, Antonio Brabo,
and Jose Hugo, were illegally taking logs out of the indigenous
reservation, Vale do Javari, near the Brazil-Peru border. The
three loggers have fled and up to this moment have not been
apprehended.
On October 8, the FUNAI administration in Mato Grosso do Sul,
the state Secretary of Justice, and representatives of the Indian
Council met with 120 Kanamaris who have been occupying a ranch in
Porto Murtinho, 600 kilometers from the capital, Campo Grande,
for the last week. According to FUNAI, the indians are asking
that the owners of this ranch not be allowed to return, as the
ranch is located on their reservation. The Kanamaris complain
that ranchers Mario Peron and Edson Nogueira have been exploiting
the land illegally since 1981.
- Attorney General asks for explanation for not demarcating
indigenous territories.
In response to an official letter in which the federal
Attorney General, Artistides Junqueira, asked for an explanation
for the non-fulfillment of the constitutional deadline of October
5 for demarcating indigenous lands, President Itamar Franco
stated that there does not exist any process on this matter.
Hours before Junqueira sent his request, the Ministry of Justice
said that only 16 of the 32 governmental decrees for setting
boundaries have been ratified by the President.
- Timber companies speed up removal of mahogany from
indigenous areas.
The Catholic Church's Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI)
reported on October 7 that 5000 mahogany logs will be removed
from the Kayapo indigenous area, in the state of Para, by the
Ferreira Timber Company. CIMI said that this operation is
illegal, since the trees were cut down on indigenous lands, and
the logs were seized in August by the Brazilian environmental
agency IBAMA. However, because the area is not inspected in any
way, the timber company is acting without restraint. The company
belongs to Kayapo who live in the Pykany village. An additional
8 thousand cubic meters of mahogany are being taken from the same
area by the Purimil Timber Company, with which the Kayapo in the
Kikretum village do business. All this timber will be removed
from the indigenous territory by the middle of November, when the
rainy season begins.
In addition to the devastation the companies are causing,
CIMI accuses them of undermining the traditional social and
economic organization of indigenous people. "Because of the easy
money they are making, the men, particularly the younger ones, do
not need to work and spend most of their time hanging around
drunk in the neighboring villages."
CIMI states that "some indigenous leaders have been corrupted
and are now negotiating multi-million contracts with timber
companies, without taking into account the damages which this
kind of exploitation is causing to the Indian territory and
community. In August, Father Diego Polizzari and two teachers
were expelled from the Kikretum village in compliance with a
requirement of the Purimil timber company. Father Polizzari had
denounced the illegal exploitation of hardwood in the Kayapo area
to the news media. The priest and the two teachers were expelled
in spite of opposition from a number of indians who are members
of the Indigenous Pastoral of the Prelacy of Xingu, Para, and of
CIMI."
There are many mahogany trees on Kayapo land, but because of
unrestrained exploitation since the 1960s there are some areas
where no mahogany is found anymore. CIMI says that even FUNAI
has been facilitating and mediating irregular contracts with
timber companies.
- Investigation of Yanomami massacre concluded.
The Catholic Church's Indigenous Missionary Council, CIMI,
reported on October 7 that the Federal Police has ended its
investigation of the massacre of Yanomami indians last August and
concluded that the massacre was an act of genocide. The
preventive detention of 23 gold miners has been requested.
According to the officer in charge of the investigation, the
Brazilian miners intended to kill all the Yanomami in the two
villages located in Venezuela. The Federal Police blamed the
invasion of Yanomami territory by the miners on the Calha Norte
(North Channel) project of military occupation of Brazil
frontiers, and on the former governor of Roraima and ex-president
of FUNAI, Romero Juca.
- Military occupation of the Amazon increases.
The Brazil Army confirmed on October 7 the opening of lines
of foreign credit for buying Brazilian weapons. According to the
Minister of the Army, Zenildo Zoroastro de Lucena, the Ministry
of Industry and Trade has been studying since the beginning of
October the request to open new financing abroad, in negotiations
linked with Brazilian agricultural products. Among those
interested in this operation are Russia, France, China, and the
United States. The released credits, as much as US$1 billion
will be used by the Armed Forces. Zoroastro said that most of
the purchases would be for light combat equipment for the new
military centers to be set up in the Amazon region as part of the
Army's occupation of the area.
The Army Minister said that the military occupation of the
Amazon will happen through small, but well-equipped contingents.
He emphasized the importance of the region for the country's
economic future and the need for the military to accompany the
process of populating the region with new military centers and
more troops. "The Amazon will be the new pole of development in
Brazil," he said.
Troops transferred from other parts of the country will
reinforce the contingent of 4 brigades, with 6000 soldiers of the
Jungle Infantry of the Amazon region. Their priority will be
defense of the borders. Brazil has made an accord with Guiana in
order to avoid possible conflicts with US military maneuvers near
the Brazilian border.
Zoroastro termed a success the recently concluded Operation
Surumu military exercises in the Amazon region. The exercises
included a "D-Day" landing of 800 paratroopers 220 kilometers
from Boa Vista, Roraima. Maneuvers of this sort are to occur
every two years.
- Guarani protest government inaction on demarcation.
Sixty Guarani leaders, representing 25 thousand indians from
Mato Grosso do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Espirito Santo, Sao Paulo,
Rio Grande do Sul, Parana, and Santa Catarina, met in Sao Paulo
between September 30 and October 5. The purpose of the assembly
was to discuss strategies to assure the space needed to survive
physically and culturally.
Although many of their villages are close to large urban
centers, the Guarani maintain their cultural traditions. Most
Guarani do not speak Portuguese, even in villages within the city
of Sao Paulo.
The Guarani reserve in Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul, suffers
from a high rate of suicides. In Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do
Sul, Parana, and Rio de Janeiro, their lands have not yet been
demarcated. In Espirito Santo, the Guarani are suffering from
the actions of the Aracruz wood pulp processing plant, and in
Parana, from the consequences of the construction of the Itaipu
dam.
On the closing day of their assembly, the Guarani held an
action in front of the Sao Paulo City Council to protest the lack
of government action in demarcating indigenous territories. In a
statement, the Pro-Indian Commission said, "If the Constitution
had been obeyed, today the 519 indigenous territories would be
demarcated. However, the reality is something else. At this
moment, only 87 indigenous lands have been demarcated.
"The responsibility for demarcation and protection of these
lands belongs to the federal government, which has not fulfilled
its constitutional duty.
"The constitutional period for demarcation ended today, but
the federal government's obligation in fulfilling the law will
not end until the last territory is demarcated and free from
invasions."
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