ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND
1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, 10th Fl.
Washington, D.C. 20009
Telephone: (202) 387-3500
Facsimile: (202) 234-6049
URGENT ACTION
March 12, 1997
Environmental and Social Issues in the Amazon and the Fernando Henrique
Cardoso Government
Government Decision Undermines Constitutional Protection of Indigenous
Lands
Minister of Justice Nelson Jobim's December 24th decision (Despacho no.
80) to reduce and divide the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Area in
Roraima state sets a sinister precedent for the approximately 190
indigenous lands, covering more than 17 million hectares (virtually all in
the Amazon) awaiting approval of the Justice Ministry in order for their
demarcations to proceed. The decision jeopardizes the G7 Pilot Program's
Indigenous Lands Project, and seriously compromises Constitutional
protection of Indian land rights.
In the key test case of the FHC government's indigenous policy, Minister
Jobim opted to trade Indian land for the votes of the Roraima
Congressional delegation in support of a constitutional amendment
permitting reelection of the president. The deal struck, in Jobim's
meeting with the Roraima state politicians December 22, reduces the 1.6
million hectare area by at least 300,000 hectares, divides it into five
parts, and legitimates five illegal gold boom enclaves within the
indigenous land. The decision further supports the creation of a new
county seat within the indigenous area, by which criterion any state
wishing to legislate its "Indian problem" out of existence is essentially
invited to do so. The Minister's proposal would exclude approximately 20
Indian villages from the indigenous area, as well as dozens of other
sites, natural pastures and other resources on which the Indians depend
for their survival. Several Indian villages are on land that would be
given to ranchers by the decision, and would have to be removed -- a step
expressly prohibited by the Constitution except for reasons of national
security or imminent threat to the survival of the indigenous group.
Brazilian Constitutions since 1934 have recognized Indian rights to the
lands they traditionally occupy, but only since the 1988 Constitution has
the demarcation process -- the administrative process of assigning
specified boundaries to Indian land -- gained momentum. The 1988
Constitution committed the government to demarcating all indigenous lands
within five years. There are 554 indigenous areas in Brazil, covering over
99 million hectares (11% of the national territory, and nearly 20% of the
Amazon). Less than half of the areas, covering some 47 million hectares,
have been fully demarcated, mostly since 1988.
The Raposa Serra do Sol area is inhabited by about 12,000 Macuxi,
Wapixana, Ingariko and Taurepang Indians, in some 100 villages. Although
official recognition that the area was inhabited by Indians dates to 1917,
the area was never demarcated, and is currently invaded by miners (most of
whom came when they were removed from the Yanomami territory in 1990),
ranchers, some shopkeepers and camp followers. The total non-indigenous
population is under 2,000. Many of these left the area when FUNAI (the
National Indian Foundation) carried out the identification of the area in
1993. The identification, challenged by the state government, was
supported by the Federal Attorney General's Office as well as the legal
department of the Ministry of Justice, and documents the indigenous
occupation and use of the area in exceptional detail. But since the
Justice Ministry ceded to political pressure and delayed the demarcation,
the state government has systematically stimulated the reinvasion of the
area, investing in roads and infrastructure in the decaying gold-boom
towns and putting invaders on the public payroll, in order to create the
appearance of crisis and prevent the demarcation. Ranches and boom towns
alike have been focal points of chronic conflict: in the last eight years,
at least 11 Macuxi have been killed, and many others beaten, illegally
imprisoned, or had their houses and property destroyed.
The Minister's decision, in creating enclaves for the five gold- boom
towns within the Indian territory, renders these conflicts permanent and
insoluble: the towns live from illegal mining, which degrades the
resources on which the surrounding communities depend. It further, in
giving land to ranches that received land titles from the federal land
agency (INCRA) since 1981, flouts a central principle of indigenous land
protection of the Constitution: Article 231, paragraph 6, states that,
"acts that have as their object the occupation, dominion, or possession of
[indigenous] lands are null and void, and without legal effect . . ."
If, as Minister Jobim would have it, the Indians are to bear the costs of
the government's prior error, then any undemarcated indigenous area in
which government agencies have unconstitutionally granted land to invaders
is open to similar reduction.
The decision, as predicted by the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), has
already provoked more conflict and violence in the region. The mayor of
the town of Pacaraima has begun construction of a road passing though
various villages in Raposa Serra do Sol and leading to the Agua Fria gold
mine. The mayor of Uiramuta, the municipality created within the Raposa
Serra do Sol area to block the demarcation, announced the construction of
a hydroelectric dam in the area. A previous attempt by the state
government to build a hydroelectric on the Cotingo river generated serious
conflict in 1995. On February 16th, Nelino Gale, former coordinator of CIR
and currently town councilman in Normandia, adjoining the Raposa Serra do
Sol area, was assaulted and threatened with death in the town hall, by one
of the invaders of the Indian area, Elizio Pereira.
Ministerial dispatch No. 80 signals a disturbing change in indigenous
policy, from slow implementation of the Constitutional mandate to
demarcate the lands occupied by indigenous peoples to its reversal in
attempts to reduce and fragment them. Minister Jobim has called on FUNAI
to prepare the demarcation order (portaria) before he leaves office at the
end of March. The indigenous organization, CIR, which has worked for the
demarcation of a single, continuous area for the last 20 years, opposes
the reduction and division of the area proposed in the Minister's
decision.
Minister Jobim's decision on Raposa Serra do Sol should be revoked and the
entire continuous area indentified by FUNAI in 1993 be demarcated. Invaders
should be removed, and where appropriate, indemnified or resettled.
For more information contact: Steve Schwartzman, EDF, 1875 Connecticut
Avenue, N.W., Suite 1016, Washington, D.C. 20009; Telephone 202 387
3500; Facsimile 202 234 6049; E-mail steves@edf.org.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jobim Decision Begins to Aggravate Situation of Raposa Serra do Sol
THE INDIGENOUS COUNCIL OF RORAIMA - CIR, on March 6th communicated to
Minister of Justice Nelson Jobim and President Fernando Henrique Cardoso
profound concern with the consequences of Dispatch no. 80 of 12/12/96 for
the Macuxi, Ingariko, Wapixana and Taurepang indigenous communities of the
Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous area, relating the follows facts:
- On February 16, the former CIR coordinator (from 95-96), currently
county councilman in the county of Normandia, Nelino Gale was assaulted
and threatened with death in the town hall, by Elizio Pereira, of the
Triunfo ranch, owner of the Placa bar located on the road from Normandia
to Surumu.
- At the beginning of January, the mayor of Pacaraima, seat of the county
of the same name, illegally located within the Sao Marcos indigenous area,
began to construct a road going from the town of Pacaraima, though
villages in Raposa Serra do Sol to the Agua Fria gold mining area.
- The mayor the county of Uiramuta announced the beginning of construction
of a 140KW hydroelectric on the Paiua creek. The attempt by the state
government to construct a hydroelectric on the Cotingo river in 1995,
generated conflicts with the Indians and international repercussions.
These very serious occurrences are the results of the decision to reduce
the indigenous area, giving the appearance of legality to acts of invasion
that will tend to become consolidated and multiply if Dispatch no. 80
results in a demarcation order (portaria). CIR does not accept Minister
Jobim's decision and has been attempting to arrange a meeting with the
President to express its concern. Nevertheless, the National Indian
Foundation (FUNAI) has informed us that the Minister intends to sign the
order before he leaves office at the end of the month. In order for FUNAI
to prepare the demarcation order reducing the indigenous land following
the dispatch, which constitutes a new identification of the area without
the requisite anthropological report, it will be necessary to send a team
to the area to redraw the boundaries. CIR appeals to all organizations to
send letters to President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Minister Jobim,
requesting that the reduction not be carried out, but that the whole
Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous area be demarcated.
Boa Vista, March 10, 1997
Jeronimo Pereira - Coordinator of CIR
Please write or fax:
Imo. Sr. Nelson Jobim
Ministro da Justica
Esplanada dos Ministerios
Bl. T Brasilia
DF 70064-900
Brazil
Fax 55 61 224 2448
Ilmo. Sr
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Presidente da Republica
Palacio do Planalto
Brasilia DF 70160-900
Brazil
Fax 55 61 226 7566