The government of the state of Bahia, supported by the
Presidency of the Republic and by the Interamerican Development
Bank (IDB), is implementing a tourism program in the south region
of that state which threatens communities of the Pataxo Ha Ha Hae
indigenous people, important ecosystems of the Atlantic Forest
and non-Indian villages. The program will also affect
municipalities located on the shore of Bahia which are
internationally known.
The tourism complex is being publicized as the great project
that will mark the 500th anniversary of the Discovery of Brazil,
which will be celebrated in the year 2000. It comprises plans for
building the Open Discovery Museum and an interstate bus station
connecting Porto Seguro and Caraiva, two important municipalities
of the region, for expanding an airport and for implementing many
other facilities. Indigenous peoples and their allies reject this
project and have nothing to celebrate. For them, it will be a
repetition of what happened in the beginning of the Portuguese
colonization, when they were expelled from their own lands. The
Pataxo Ha Ha Hae living in the municipalities of Cabralia, Porto
Seguro and Prado will be the most affected. The indigenous
community of Coroa Vermelha, for instance, in spite of the fact
that its area is being demarcated by the National Indian
Foundation, a federal agency, is having to fight against the
plans of the Legislative Branch of Bahia to expropriate all their
1,400-hectare area to build the Discovery Museum.
Environmental entities and Indian-supporting organizations
are denouncing the arbitrary and illegal actions of the
government of Bahia which, in addition to violating
constitutional rights which protect the land and the indigenous
peoples living in them, is implementing projects which jeopardize
the environment and refuses to dialogue with the affected
communities.
ANOTHER FARCE OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE IS DENOUNCED
Cimi denounces once more the farce of the minister of
Justice, Nelson Jobim, based mainly on Decree 1,775/96, which is
aimed at reducing the size of indigenous areas and at meeting the
economic and political interests of allies of the Fernando
Henrique Cardoso administration. Through a source of the ministry
of Justice, the Pro-Indian Commission of Sao Paulo (CPI) was
informed that 18 indigenous areas will be reviewed according to
the provisions of that decree and of administrative rule n. 14,
of January 9, which guides the preparation of the reports which
identify and delimit those areas.
Still according to that source, the review will not be based
on claims against indigenous areas referred to FUNAI until the
8th of April, which have been considered ungrounded. The
demarcations will be reviewed because, according to the minister,
they are not in tune with the constitutional provisions which
define the nature of lands traditionally occupied by indigenous
peoples. The minister has a adopted a restrictive interpretation
of the indigenous rights provided for in the Brazilian
Constitution, and this interpretation will surely lead to the
reduction of indigenous lands.
Considering this very serious information, we see that Decree
1,775/96 is nothing but a tool to apply the anti-indigenous
theories of minister Nelson Jobim.
Brasilia, 9 July 1996
Indianist Missionary Council (Cimi)