The annual "Conflicts in Rural Areas - 1996" report issued by the
Land Pastoral Commission this week in Brasilia once again confirms
that violence and impunity still prevail in land conflicts in rural
areas in Brazil. According to the report, conflicts grew by 26% in
relation to 1995, from 554 to 750, the highest figure recorded by the
commission in the 11 years it has been documenting them. The year was
marked by the massacre of Eldorado de Carajas, where 19 members of the
Landless Movement were killed on April 17. Altogether, 54 rural
workers were killed in 1996, 13 more than in 1995.
Last year, 653 land conflicts, 19 cases of slave labor, and 78
incidents involving labor issues, unions, the agricultural policy and
miners were registered, averaging two conflicts a day. Most cases,
256, were reported in the Northeast, but the state of Para was the one
where violence prevailed more than in any other, with 72 deaths,
including the massacre in Eldorado de Carajas. In 1996, more land
areas (398) were occupied by landless workers than in the last 11
years, and the number of families involved (63,080) was almost twice
the figure registered in 1995. This is a clear result of the action of
the Landless Movement.
There was a slight drop in the occurrence of slave labor, from 21
in 1995 to 19 in 1996. The Land Pastoral Commission believes that this
drop can be attributed to the fact that no slave labor was reported in
charcoal kilns and alcohol distilleries in the states of Minas Gerais
and Mato Grosso do Sul. The former state set up a parliamentary
committee which investigated and demanded concrete measures against
slave labor in charcoal kilns. However, slave labor was detected in
coffee farms. A permanent committee to investigate labor conditions
was set up in Mato Grosso do Sul, with positive results.
According to the report for 1996, 976 persons were murdered in
rural areas in the last 11 years, and there were 891 attempts on
people's lives and 2,500 death threats. In average, 81.3 murders were
registered, one each 4.5 days. Of these, only 56 cases were brought
before the courts and only 14 persons behind the crimes were judged,
of whom only 7 were convicted, five are in prison and two fled.
"SHOUT FOR LAND BRAZIL" MOVEMENT SUPPORTS
THE CAUSE OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
About 2,000 members of the "Shout for Land Brazil" movement took
part in a demonstration staged at the Compromisso square in Brasilia
to demand justice and the end of impunity for murderers of Indians and
rural workers. The square is located behind the bus stop where Indian
Galdino Pataxo was burned alive on April 20. Speaking in behalf of the
indigenous communities of Brazil, the representative of Capoib,
Mauricio Guarani, protested against the lack of interest of the
federal administration in demarcating indigenous areas, which has
caused invasions and violence against Indians. He assured that
indigenous communities have joined landless rural workers in their
fight for land, employment, and justice in rural areas. A group of
indigenous leaders left flowers in the square in memory of Galdino
Pataxo and then the demonstrators moved on to the Ministry of Planning
and the Planalto Palace, headquarters of the federal administration,
to protest and demand that negotiations on the claims of the "Shout
for Land" movement be resumed.
Brasilia, 3 July 1997
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi