Newsletter n. 781

 

– Minister of Justice declares Tupinikim and Guarani lands in the state of Espírito Santo as indigenous lands

 

– Farmers and politicians expel representatives from Opan and Greenpeace and journalists from Juína, in the state of Mato Grosso

 

****

MINISTER OF JUSTICE DECLARES TUPINIKIM AND GUARANI LANDS IN THE STATE OF ESPÍRITO SANTO AS INDIGENOUS LANDS 

 

After decades of struggling, the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples reoccupied the area which belongs to them and was under the possession of the Aracruz Celulose company, in the north region of the state of Espírito Santo. On August 28, the minister of Justice, Tarso Genro, finally signed administrative rulings which declare the 18,027 hectares claimed by both peoples as an indigenous land.

 

To conclude the administrative procedures for returning the lands to the indigenous peoples, the National Foundation for Indigenous People (Funai) needs to set up landmarks along the bounds of the area and, afterwards, the president of the Republic can officially confirm these bounds.

 

The Administrative Ruling represents “a victory of the people. We were born and raised here. There’s no way we will let anybody say that we’re not from here,” declared Jonas do Rosário, chief of the Irajá village. The indigenous people’s expectation, according to Jonas, is that a new phase in the life of the Tupinikim and Guarani will begin. “Now we’re bringing the communities together, encouraging them to plan their work and to decide what to do with the eucalyptus and the land.”

 

Background

Since the late 1970s, the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples have been fighting for their lands, which began to be occupied by the Aracruz Cellulose company in the 1960s. In 1983, after conflicts with the company, a presidential decree authorized them to occupy 4,500 hectares. In 1995, an anthropological report prepared by Funai concluded that the indigenous land in the region covered 18,000 hectares. Two years later, the then minister of Justice, Íris Resende, recognized this report but demarcated only 2,500 hectares for the indigenous people, leaving the rest with the company. This decision was considered unconstitutional by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

 

From 2005 on, the Tupinikim and Guarani began to reoccupy their land. In January 2006, 13 indigenous people were injured in a violent action for removing 50 people from the reoccupied area. 120 federal police officers, using concussion grenades and rubber bullets, a helicopter, and equipment belonging to the Aracruz Celulose company, supported by the Military Police, participated in this action.  All houses were destroyed and set on fire.

 

Two months later, Funai published a report reaffirming that the 18,000 hectares claimed by both indigenous peoples were indigenous land. The Aracruz company challenged the report, questioning the ethnic identity of the Tupinikim and Guarani peoples. In September 2006, after evaluating these arguments, Funai upheld the recommendation in favor of the indigenous peoples and referred the opinion to the then minister Márcio Thomaz Bastos. Six months later, instead of publishing the administrative ruling, Thomaz Bastos returned the process to Funai, indicating that an agreement should be reached between both parties.

 

Determined not to give up their land, the Tupinikim and Guarani began to reoccupy part of the area in July 2007. They rebuilt the two villages destroyed by the Police in 2006.

 

 

Farmers and politicians expel representantives from opan and Greenpeace and journalists from Juína, in the state of Mato Grosso

 

The Federal Prosecutor’s Office in the state of Mato Grosso (MPF-MT) will ask the Federal Police to investigate acts of aggression suffered by members of Greenpeace and the Native Amazon Operation (OPAN) and two French journalists who were expelled from the town of Juína on August 21 by farmers and politicians in the northwest region of the state.

 

The group was there to make a documentary on deforestation in the region and on the Enawenê Nawê people, who live next to the Preto River. In the morning of the 20th, dozens of farmers surrounded the hotel where the team was staying to find out what they were doing there. The group was then taken to the City Council, where a special session was held with the presence of the city’s mayor, Hilton Campos (PR), the president of the local council, the president of the Rural Producers’ Association of the Preto River (Aprurp), various alderpersons, and over 50 farmers. 

 

After six hours of threats from farmers and politicians, who denied permission for the team to enter the Enawenê Nawê land, their trip was cancelled. The visitors left Juína in the morning of the 21st, after spending the night in the hotel surrounded by farmers who continued to threat them and prevented them from even leaving their room to have something to eat. When they arrived at Cuiabá, they gave documents and video recordings confirming the acts of aggression to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office.

 

“It’s unacceptable to allow farmers, supported by local authorities, to deprive any citizen from the freedom to come and go,” reported Greenpeace in a note.

 

Part of the Enawenê Nawê territory is under dispute between indigenous people and farmers. The indigenous people want to have this part of their traditional territory back, as it was left out of the demarcated area, since it includes an area where they engage in ceremonial fishing activities which are fundamental to the sacred rituals of the Enawenê people.

In a note, Opan provided a background of conflicts in the region: “Until the 1960s, rubber tappers and owners of rubber-extraction areas used to open fire against the Irantxe, Rikbaktsa, Cinta Larga and Enawenê Nawê peoples, among others. In recent years, conflicts between indigenous people and farmers and woodcutters prevail. (…) Our companions are treated as fugitives from justice by people who threat them knowing that they can get away with this. When will we stop comparing lists of threatened people to lists of dead people and wish “luck” to those who are struggling to build a fairer society?”

 

A documentary on the events mentioned here is available on the Internet under the title “Amazônia, uma região de poucos“.

 

  

Brasília, August 30, 2007

www.cimi.org.br

Indianist Missionary Council