– Biofuels: “Full Tanks at the expense of Empty Stomachs”

– Karitiana People secures commitment from Funai to identify the Rio Candeias land and inspect indigenous lands

 

 

BIOFUELS: “FULL TANKS AT THE EXPENSE OF EMPTY STOMACHS”

 

Producing fuels from sugarcane, castor bean, and soybeans – the so-called biofuels – is being proposed as an economic alternative for small farmers and as an alternative to burning fossil fuels, which are expensive and pollute the environment. The topic was much talked-about early in February, after a UN report on global warming was issued, and it was addressed in recent negotiations with Uruguay for the country to remain in the Mercosur and continues to be emphasized in March as one of the topics to be discussed during the visit of the president of the United States of America to Brazil. George W. Bush announced his interest in developing a partnership with Brazil for producing biofuels.

 

In a letter issued after a seminar of Via Campesina on the growth of the sugarcane industry in Latin America that was held in São Paulo last week, representatives of social organizations and movements from Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic challenged the discourse according to which biofuel is a clean energy that can generate income for rural populations in Brazil. “The current bioenergy production model is based on the same elements that have always brought oppression to indigenous people: appropriation of territories, of natural goods, of the labor force,” said Via Campesina in the letter, which is called “Full Tanks at the expense of Empty Stomachs.”

 

“The Brazilian government is now encouraging the production of biodiesel also, mainly to ensure the survival and expansion of soybean monoculture in large areas. With the aim of legitimizing this policy and disguising its devastating effects, the government has been encouraging the diversified production of biodiesel by small farmers for the purpose of creating the so-called “social seal.” Monoculture is increasing in indigenous areas and other territories of original indigenous people,” he added.

 

One of the main concerns is with working conditions in farms. And this includes the use of indigenous labor which, particularly in sugarcane plantations, often faces conditions similar to slavery: low pay, no safety, long months away from their villages and homes.

 

In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul alone, there are projects to set up 32 ethanol plants over the next three years, with promises of 51,000 new jobs and credit lines from BNDES (National Economic and Social Development Bank). Biofuel crops are also increasing in the Brazilian northeast region.

 

On Wednesday, February 28, the president of the Brazilian Cáritas, Bishop Demétrio Valentim, recalled problems created by monoculture for workers during a ceremony for launching the book  Direitos Humanos no Brasil 2 – Diagnósticos e Perspectivas (Human rights in Brazil 2 – Diagnosis and Prospects). He mentioned sugarcane plantations as examples of areas where even ensured rights – such as labor rights – can be threatened. “The battle for human rights must be continually supported. A clear example is that of labor rights, which have been ensured already but are threatened. Biofuel, for example, leads to larger sugarcane plantations, where working conditions are similar to the ones experienced during the slavery period,” he said.

 

To read the full letter of Via Campesina, clique here.

 

 

KARITIANA PEOPLE SECURES COMMITMENT FROM FUNAI TO IDENTIFY THE RIO CANDEIAS LAND AND INSPECT INDIGENOUS LANDS

 

The Karitiana people in the state of Rondônia are being forced to defend their territory themselves. The absence of public authorities there forces them to take action to prevent invaders and miners from invading indigenous lands. Last week, these people, who live at a distance of 95 km from Porto Velho, the capital of the state of Rondônia, spotted two young people entering their village without authorization who had disregarded signs indicating that it is an indigenous land. The youths told the Karitiana that they were trying to avoid a Federal Highway Police station located at km 45 of the BR 364 highway, as they didn’t have the required documents for the motorcycle they were using.

 

They were allowed to leave the area on March 27 in the afternoon, after the Karitiana secured a commitment from the National Foundation for Indigenous People that it would inspect their land to try to find invaders in them as an urgent matter and would complete the demarcation of the Rio Candeias indigenous land and remove occupants and invaders from the already-demarcated land of the Karitiana.

 

In November of last year, the Karitiana caught five miners invading their land, who told them that there were 50 other miners inside the area. On that occasion, they turned the invaders over to Funai and to the police, demanding an inspection in their territory.

 

The Karitiana want the Rio Candeias land, which they reoccupied in 2003, to be identified as an indigenous land. On that occasion, Funai set up a working group to identify the land, but the required surveys for this purpose have not advanced. Farmers who produced illegal title deeds to that land when the PLANAFLORO (Agriculture/livestock and Forest Plan for the Amazon Region) was launched continue to occupy the territory and destroy forests there, as well as vestiges of indigenous presence and sacred places for the Karitiana. This destruction could be avoided if the process for identifying the land had not been stalled since 2003.

 

Besides inspection problems, the Karitiana suffer with the absence of public authorities: Without having completed all grades of the second segment of elementary education (5th to 8th grade) and secondary education, many young people have moved to cities; the health care available to them is also precarious.

 

Brasília, March 1, 2007