TERRA LIVRE (FREE LAND) DEMONSTRATION RESULTS IN COMMITMENTS FROM THE AUTHORITIES FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE AND STRENGTHENS ALLIANCES BETWEEN THE PEOPLES

 

The National Free Land Indigenous Demonstration ended on Friday, April 29, in Brasília. The more than 700 leaders from 89 peoples who camped for five days on the lawn of Esplanada dos Ministérios (the square in Brasília where all ministries are located) consider that important political advances were made – such as the commitment made by the Ministry of Justice to create a National Indigenous Policy Council and the commitment made by the Ministry of Environment to finalize a proposal for a national territorial management and biodiversity protection program in indigenous lands by the end of May of this year. A commitment was also made by the National Land Reform Institute to analyze 74 conflict areas involving indigenous peoples and small farmers for the purpose of relocating the farmers.

 

The indigenous people considered that the demonstration was important for strengthening the indigenous movement, as it united various indigenous peoples around common demands. The activity promoted closer links between indigenous peoples and their alliances with other sectors of society. “This demonstration has consolidated a nationwide alliance involving dozens of peoples, indigenous organizations and institutions which support indigenous people around the common objective of defending and guaranteeing indigenous rights in Brazil,” they said in a letter that marked the closing of the Free Land camp. The mobilization was also compared to that which took place five years ago in Porto Seguro, state of Bahia. “We think that this mobilization is the most significant demonstration held by the indigenous peoples of Brazil since the sorrowful commemoration of the 500th anniversary of ‘Brazil’s discovery’ in Porto Seguro in 2000,” they claim.

 

Indigenous Policy

 

The Federal Government, through the Minister of Justice, Márcio Thomas Bastos, the Minister of the Civil House, José Dirceu, and the Secretary General to the President, Luiz Dulce, has committed itself to setting up the National Indigenous Policy Council. The Leader of the Workers’ Party (PT) in the Senate, Delcídio Amaral, Senator Eduardo Suplicy, and Deputy Eduardo Valverde, coordinator of the Parliamentary Front for the Defense of Indigenous Rights, also backed the setting up of this Council.

 

The Council proposed by the Forum for the Defense of Indigenous People’s Rights, which organized the Free Land demonstration, will be in charge of coordinating public actions in favor of indigenous peoples. Linked to the Office of the President of the Republic, the Council will have deliberative powers and will be made up of representatives of indigenous peoples, institutions which support the indigenous cause, and the Federal Government.

 

In the Forum’s view, an organization of this type can make up for “the lack of participation of indigenous peoples and representatives of civil society in defining the indigenous policy, which today results in inefficient governmental actions in favor of indigenous populations.”

 

Land issues

 

The indigenous leaders still consider there to there are obstacles slowing down procedures to legalize indigenous lands and sluggishness in the studies to identify these lands.

The Minister of Justice, Marcio Thomaz Bastos, has promised to study every one of the 14 lands whose processes have come to a halt in his Ministry on a case-by-case basis. However, the indigenous people consider that there has not been any “objective commitment” on the part of Thomaz Bastos, since deadlines have not been established and the reasons for the delay have not been made clear. Furthermore “the President of Funai has not undertaken to speed up the official recognition of the bounds of indigenous lands by setting up working groups (GTs) and publishing summaries of identification reports and he has not given any explanation for unnecessary negotiations of indigenous territorial rights.”

Amongst the demands that the indigenous people are still making, they want to revoke the decision of the President of Funai not to start studies to review the boundaries of indigenous lands whose demarcation wrongly excluded parts of traditional indigenous areas and are specially worried about the situation in the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul and Santa Catarina, “where political pressure has taken precedence over indigenous interests.”

 

With respect to the National Congress, Senator Delcídio Amaral, who proposed  the Supplementary Law Bill (PLS) n. 188/04, which alters the entire land demarcation process and suggests that these processes should be subject to the political judgment of the National Congress, has committed himself to guaranteeing that PLS 188 will not return to Congress based on the understanding that it is a subject dealt with in isolation and is contrary to indigenous rights. The proposal is to combine all the proposals that are wending their way through Congress together in one commission in preparation for the discussions to reformulate the Statute of Indigenous Peoples.

 

Territorial management

 

Based on the observation that the funds currently available at the Ministry for the Environment (MMA) for environmental management in the Indigenous Lands are dispersed and that there is no structured national management policy with “long-term ethno-regional programs coordinated with actions in the educational area,” MMA has committed itself to integrating its actions involving indigenous people and to finalizing its preliminary proposal for a national territorial management program by the end of May.

 

“We are worried about a possible misuse by the Civil House of the Preliminary Bill aimed at granting access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge proposed by the Genetic Heritage Management Council (Cgen) and prepared with the participation of indigenous organizations and organized civil society,” the indigenous people stated. In reply, the Ministry of Environment undertook to defend the Preliminary Bill before the Executive Branch.

 

In the final document of the demonstration, the indigenous people expressed their rejection of the São Francisco river transposition project. “We support a program to revitalize the river,” they state.

 

Health

 

In their discussions of health-related issues, the indigenous people presented suggestions for the full implementation of the health care model proposed by the National Conferences on Health Care for Indigenous Peoples, which is based on Special Sanitary Districts for Indigenous Peoples (DSEIS). Amongst the problems they raised, they mentioned that “there is no structure and training for indigenous people making members the District Councils, funds are not consistent with the requirements, and the DSEIs do not have administrative and financial autonomy.”

 

The indigenous people want the National Health Foundation (Funasa) to structure itself so that it can, in fact, assume its responsibilities in the sector. This would prevent municipalization of indigenous peoples’ health care management, since historically concentrating funds and decision-making in the municipalities has led to the political  – or inappropriate – use of these funds.

 

The Demonstration led the Ministry of Health (MS) to promise to analyze the possibility of implementing special rules for indigenous organizations which have agreements with FUNASA. Nevertheless, the Ministry “did not commit itself to meeting the demands defined in plenary sessions for improving the efficiency of the participation of indigenous people in the Local and District Councils and did not answer inquiries about the trend towards municipalization of the administration,” the final letter of the demonstration says.

 

Indigenous Education

 

In a meeting with the Ministry of Education, the indigenous people addressed problems caused by the transfer of indigenous education actions to the states and from the states to the municipalities, and requested the Ministry to take more decisive measures in relation to the application of educational policies. “The States and municipalities are not capable or do not have the political will to follow the guidelines set by the Ministry of Education for this subject,” they say.

The proposal to hold a National Conference on Indigenous Peoples’ Education did not get a reply from the Ministry of Education, nor did the request to build secondary schools in indigenous villages. Nowadays, a large number of these villages have only elementary schools where a differentiated and, in some cases, bilingual education can be provided.

 

 With respect to higher education, expansion of agreements signed with Public Universities was requested in order to create mechanisms aimed at guaranteeing the presence of indigenous students in them. The Ministry of Education pledged to set up a scholarship program to keep indigenous students in the universities.

 

Brasília, 5 May 2005

Cimi – Indianist Missionary Council

www.cimi.org.br