A commission made up of representatives of entities which
support the indigenous cause in Amazonas has been negotiating
since the 12th a solution to the impasse created by the protest
of Waimiri-Atroari Indians in front of the Taboca mining company,
linked to the Paranapanema group, in the municipality of
Presidente Figueiredo (state of Amazonas). Since the 8th of
October, about 110 Indians have been camping in front of the
mining company to demand a compensation for damages caused by the
company to their people and land. Among other claims, they want
to reoccupy their traditional territories, which were occupied by
the mining company, and to receive a certain payment to let the
company use the BR-174 highway, which cuts their territory and is
used by the company to transport ores. The company pays about US$
16 thousand to use that highway and tried to raise that amount to
US$ 24,000 and later to US$ 41,000 after the Indians began their
protest. The Indians, however, want to receive US$ 78,000 a
month, a sum equivalent to one truckload of ores. The company,
which is the largest producer of cassiterite in the world, keeps
a regular flow of 200 truckloads a month.
The Waimiri-Atroari denounced damages caused to the
environment by the company's mining activities, which have
polluted the Alalau river that cuts the indigenous area. One of
the directors of the company declared that four years from now
there will be nothing left to exploit in the area, a statement
that upset the Indians even more. The Waimiri also denounced that
they were cheated by Funai and that the mining site of the
company in Pitinga covers 526,800 hectares of their land.
The action of the Waimiri-Atroari is a reaction against
repeated acts of plundering and violence. Since the 60s and the
70s, when the BR-174 highway was built, they have been dominated
and subjugated by the Army. In this process, 2,000 Indians
disappeared and their lands were reduced by 4/5. In the 80s, the
State decided to build the absurd Balbina power plant, which
accounts for 1% of the Brazilian foreign debt and flooded 250,000
hectares of forests, in their land.
Cimi and other entities which have always fought against the
plundering of the Waimiri-Atroari land blame the State for any
acts of violence against the Indians as they fight for their
rights. "It is therefore up to the State, through Funai, to find
a solution and redeem the rights of the Waimiri-Atroari over the
integrity of their territory," the vice-chairman of Cimi,
Francisco Loebens, declared.
NOTHING NEW IN JOBIM's VISIT TO THE RAPOSA/SERRA DO SOL AREA
The visit of Minister Nelson Jobim to the Raposa/Serra do Sol
area in Roraima outraged antiindigenous groups but did not lead
to the official demarcation of the area as the Indians expected,
although they still hope it will be demarcated. In various
meetings which he attended, Jobim said that he will be making a
decision on the demarcation of the area by December and that
before the Fernando Henrique Administration is over, in 1998, he
will have demarcated all indigenous areas in the country, that
is, 11% of the national territory or about 90 million hectares.
The minister met with the governor of the state, Neudo Campos,
parliamentarians, the local judge, and representatives of
indigenous populations of the state. A meeting he held with the
bishop of Roraima and Cimi's president, D. Apparecido Jose Dias,
and priest Lirio Girardi lasted 45 minutes. In his meeting with
parliamentarians, the minister admitted that he knows the
situation of Indians and non-Indians has always been tense in the
state, contradicting what the parliamentarians had said before.
CHAMBER APPROVES LICENCE FOR SERRA DA MESA POWER PLANT
This Tuesday, October 15, the Chamber of Deputies passed a
bill for legislative decree n. 308/96 authorizing the
exploitation of the hydroelectric potential of part of the
Tocantins river by the Serra da Mesa power plant in the
indigenous territory of the Ava-Canoeiro Indians. The license was
granted even though the Environmental Impact Report (RIMA), a
compulsory requirement for the building of the plant, is not
ready yet. The authorization was voted on under a regime of
extreme urgency and was rejected by the Workers' Party (PT), the
Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB), the Green Party (PV) and the
Communist Party of Brazil (PC do B). The bill will now be
referred to the Senate and should, a priori, be submitted to
working committees. Given the priority attached to it by the
Government, however, it is expected to be analyzed and voted on
at this level as an urgent matter also, as in the Chamber.
The political victory of the Ava-Canoeiro came through judge
Marcelo Dolzany da Costa of the Federal Court of Tocantins. In a
ruling issued on October 15, the judge denied the request filed
by Furnas Centrais Eletricas S.A to reconsider his previous
decision, which suspended the filling of the reservoir on October
1. The decision was taken in compliance with appeals made by
various persons, entities and countries, which called on the
judge to sustain his ruling. Judge Dolzany insists on the need of
the Environmental Impact Report and of the authorization from the
National Congress before the gates can be closed.
Brasilia, 17 October 1996
Indianist Missionary Council - CIMI