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NEWS FROM BRAZIL supplied by SEJUP (Servico Brasileiro de Justica
e Paz)
Number 152, October 26, 1994.
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INDIGENOUS ISSUES
- Missionary receives death threats.
Father Rui Joseph Shea who coordinates indigenous pastoral
activity in the Diocese of Maraba, State of Para, has been
receiving death threats. In this case the threats are not linked
to Father Shea's work with the indians but because of a
denouncement he made regarding the kidnapping, torture,
assassination and cremation of three men and two children who had
been accused of stealing. Father Shea is a Canadian naturalized
Brazilian and has been in Brazil for 26 years.
Father Shea investigating the murder of the five people
discovered that a number of business people and a rancher were
involved in the murder. He organized a protest in the town where
the murders took place - Itupiranga. The police have done nothing
to arrest the people responsible for the murders and the threats.
- Gold-prospectors removed from Yanomami territory.
The Brazilian government recently announced that by the end
of October all the gold-prospectors should have been removed from
the Yanomami territory in the State of Roraima on the Venezuelan
frontier. Despite this announcement, the illegal landing strips
near Boa Vista are still being used by the gold-prospectors. If
the landing strips remain open, the invasion of the territory
once again will be easy. The National Indian Foundation (FUNAI),
the federal police and the air force have been involved in the
removal of the prospectors.
According to FUNAI, the last 70 invaders in the Parima area
should be removed within the next few days. This is the part of
the territory where the greatest concentration of prospectors
were working and according to FUNAI already 500 have been removed
from there.
At the beginning of September approximately 2500 invaders
were present in the Yanomami territory. No figures are available
for the number remaining but according to information given by
missionaries working in the territory the number has been well
reduced. However it is felt that many prospectors crossed the
border into Venezuela and are awaiting the end of the removal
process in order to return to the territory.
- Construction of hydro-electrical plants in indigenous
areas.
The Brazilian government plans to build 80 hydro-electrical
plants in the Amazonian region; many of them are planned to be
located in indigenous areas. One such example is the plant which
the government plans to build at Cotingo in the Raposa/Serra do
Sol indigenous area in the State of Roraima.
Just over a week ago Makuxi and Wapixana indians from this
indigenous area met with officials from the state government to
find out what would be the environmental impact of this project.
The study about the impact was not given to the indians who
declared that they did not want the hydro-electrical project
within their territory. The federal procurator in Roraima who
participated in the meeting said that the dam could only be built
in the indigenous territory with the approval of the National
Congress as is stated in the Brazilian Constitution.
- No indian elected in recent elections.
The almost 300 thousand indians scattered in 170 different
groups in Brazil will continue for four more years without a
representative in the National Congress. None of the eight indian
candidates succeeded in being elected. The candidates who
received most votes were Marcos Terena from the Federal District
and Tikuna Pedro Mendes from the State of Amazonas. Terena had
been elected federal deputy four years ago.
- Caiapos have been contaminated by mercury.
More than 300 members of the Caiapo group who live in the
south of the State of Para have been contaminated with mercury
used by gold-prospectors. Studies carried out in the region by
three universities -the universities of Brasilia, Campinas and
Sao Paulo State, have shown that the contamination is in excess
of the acceptable levels set by the World Health Organization.
The Procurator General of the Republic is studying the
possibility of compensation being paid to the indians; the case
has been brought against FUNAI (the government indigenous
agency), against the Department of National Mineral Survey and
against IBAMA (the government environmental agency) by a number
of NGOs. The contamination of the indians happened especially
through the consumption of mercury contaminated fish. A survey
was also carried out amongst the gold-prospectors and it was
discovered that they also have been contaminated by the mercury.
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