The first measures of the newly inaugurated federal administration
in relation to the Indianist policy suggest that it may be willing to
negotiate the rights of Indian peoples with invaders of their lands.
On January 23rd, the minister of Justice, Nelson Jobim, received
two Indian delegations.
The first delegation, representing the Krikati Indians, went to
Brasi'lia to denounce that the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) had
been prevented from demarcating their traditional territory by
dwellers of the municipality of Montes Claros who had been incited to
do so by local politicians supported by the governor of the state of
Maranha~o, Roseana Sarney. It was the second time that a team hired by
FUNAI was prevented from carrying out the demarcation of the Krikati
land, which was authorised in July of 1992.
The other delegation, representing the Makuxi Indians, went to the
federal capital to denounce that military police officers from the
state of Roraima had resorted to violence against Indians at the
Raposa/Serra do Sol Indian Area. They were instructed to carry out
repressive actions by governor Neudo Campos, for the purpose of
intimidating Indians who are against the illegal building of a power
plant at the Contigo river, inside the Indian territory.
Both delegations demanded the immediate demarcation of their lands
and questioned the competence of the federal administration to deal
with Indian issues in their meeting with minister Nelson Jobim. A
Krikati leader asked Jobim: "Who is the boss? President Fernando
Henrique Cardoso or the Sarney family?" He was referring to the
governor of Maranha~o Roseana - daughter of Jose' Sarney, ex-president
of the Republic and now president of the Federal Senate -, who
supports the cause of invaders of the Krikati land in exchange for
votes.
The minister of Justice was rude to the Indian leaders and told
them that from now on he will only receive Indian delegations if
audiences are scheduled beforehand by the president of FUNAI. In reply
to the allegations of leader Lourengo Krikati that the claims of his
people are in tune with the Federal Constitution, Jobim once again
used tough words. "Don't you come here to teach me how the
Constitution works. I was one of the persons who drafted it, and I'm
the one who knows how it works."
The way the minister dealt with the two above-mentioned issues
shows that the new administration tends to adopt the practice of
negotiating Indian rights. Giving in to undue pressures from local
politicians, he stated his willingness to rediscuss Ministerial
Directive n. 258/1992, which declares the bounds of the Krikati Indian
area and determines its demarcation. A first descussion on the issue
was already carried out on January 23 at a joint meeting attended by
representatives from the ministries of Justice and External Relations,
from the Secretariat for Strategic Affairs of the Presidency of the
Republic, from the Office of the Attorney General, and from the
government of the state of Maranha~o.
Regarding the Raposa/Serra do Sol Area, the minister referred the
documents related to the demarcation procedure to the agency in charge
of defending the interests of the Union, the General Advocacy
Department (AGU), whose head, Geraldo Quinta~o, decided to hear the
opinion of all the ministries making up the National Defence Council
on the matter. As absurd as it may seem, this decision, which is
merely aimed at delaying the whole process, had already been taken by
former minister of Justice and by the ex-head of the General Advocacy
Department. According to the information available to us, all the
competent agencies had been heard on the matter, and only the opinion
of a single ministry was still pending!
Based on these facts, one can surely affirm that constitutional
parameters will not be the only ones to define the bounds of Indian
lands. The position of military ministers, of the Ministry of External
Relations, of state governors, and of invaders of Indian territories
will surely have a bearing on the definition of those bounds.
In other words, it seems that the administration of president
Fernando Henrique Cardoso will not discard the possibility of
negotiating the rights of Indian peoples.
Brasi'lia, February 3, 1995
CIMI - Indianist Missionary Council