INDIANS ATTEND FUNAI'S WORKSHOP AFTER PROTESTING
It was only after a harsh protest that nearly 100 Indians from the
northeastern part of the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo
succeeded in attending the workshop fostered by Funai (National Indian
Foundation) in the municipality of Carpina, state of Pernambuco. The event
was organized with the aim of both discussing governmental practices
developed in the northeastern region of Brazil and establishing public
policies suitable to an action aimed at Indian populations of the region.
Attendance to the workshop, nevertheless, was restricted to anthropologists,
government experts and NGO representatives. According to the Articulation
of Indian People and Organizations from the northeast, Minas Gerais and
Espirito Santo (APOINME), Funai scorned the Indians by fostering debates
about subjects of their interest, but not inviting them to attend.
In reason of such disrespect, Indian leaderships seized the place
where the workshop was being held, criticizing the State's insensitivity
toward the Indian people. In an arrogant fashion, Funai's president, Julio
Gaiger, unveiled his prejudice by stating to the press that if the Indians
were not happy, they should move away to Bolivia. Despite the comment,
Gaiger was forced to yield to the protest, inviting four Indian leaderships
to the discussion table. The invitation was promptly welcomed by the
Indians, as a demonstration that the Indians of the northeast no longer
accept being ignored in their own political organization and that they are
prepared for any kind of debate about policies regarding the Indians.
FORUM AGAINST VIOLENCE LISTENS TO INDIANS FROM MATO GROSSO
The escalating violence against rural workers and Indians in the state
of Mato Grosso caused the meeting of the National Forum Against Violence
in Rural Areas to be transferred to the city of Cuiaba, state of Mato
Grosso. With regard to the Indians, the situation is so critical that the
Federal Public Prosecution Service decided to hold the national meeting
about the participation of district attorneys in Indian issues, in the
same city and at the same time. The two meetings counted on the attendance
of Indian leaderships, who took the opportunity to complain about Funai's
negligence regarding crimes and constraint against the Indians and asked
for support in order to settle these issues. The Forum Against Violence in
Rural Areas highlighted two astounding cases of grievance in the state:
the 10th consecutive year of impunity for the murderers of Cimi's
missionary, Vicente Canas, and the fact that nobody has yet been charged
with the invasion of the Sarare Indian area, of the Kithaurlu Indians.
ECOLOGISTS MEET IN THE RIO + 5
From the 13th to the 19th of March, about 500 ecologists,
entrepreneurs, researchers and politicians from over 80 countries met in
Rio de Janeiro, in the Rio + 5 event, to assess, five years later, the
adoption of the principles approved during the ECO-92. The Rio + 5 is
fostered by the Earth Council, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO). The
final document of the meeting, called "Earth Chart", was developed with
the aim of influencing the governments (which are going to attend the
Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly, from the 23rd to
the 27th of June, at the UN headquarters, in New York) to analyze the
course of sustainable development on the planet. Brazilian Indians
Aniceto Xavante and Adalberto Macuxi, who attended the event, asked for
more attention on the part of the Brazilian government regarding Indians
in Brazil and protested against president Fernando Henrique Cardoso,
during his visit to the meeting, in the last work session.
Brasilia, March 20, 1997.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi