• The Munduruku occupy Funai post in Itaituba (Pará)
• Amnesty International reinforces campaign in support of the Guarani Kaiowá in Mato Grosso do Sul

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THE MUNDURUKU OCCUPY FUNAI POST IN ITAITUBA, PARÁ

 Approximately 50 leaders of the Munduruku people have occupied the offices of the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (Funai) in Itaituba, in the state of Pará. They are calling for actions in inspection and support for productive activities for the Munduruku land. The Funai administration in the region has not been accountable for three years. The indigenous also request the nomination of a regional administrator for the agency.

 

“We are asking that the president [Marcio Meira] come here and hear our demands or that another person who has the power to decide, but until now no one from Funai answers us  as to whether someone is going to come or when they would come”, states leader Harolodo Munduruku, of the Munduruku Association of Alto Tapajós. The indigenous were informed that the president of Funai is in Acre, at a meeting of the National Commission of Indigenist Policy (CNPI).

 

According to Haroldo, the planning of the actions for the people is not completed because the Funai in the region is disorganized and unstructured. The indigenous complain that Foundation has been told in relation to inspection of the Munduruku lands that it is constantly invaded by fishermen and miners. He also complains of the lack of support to the activities necessary for subsistence of the people, such as the planting of manioc, banana, yams and other foods.

 

Haroldo states that the physical structure of the Funai post in Itaituba is in a precarious condition; unable for example of housing the indigenous in its lodgings. “We would like the president or someone from Brasilia to look at the situation and hear the community and the caciques”, the indigenous leader said in closing.

 

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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REINFORCES CAMPAIGN OF SUPPORT FOR THE GUARANI KAIOWÁ IN MATO GROSSO DO SUL

 

Amnesty International has launched two campaigns in the past week in support of the Guarani Kaiowá people, specifically to the communities Laranjeira Ñanderu and Apika’y, victims of aggression in the month of September in Mato Grosso do Sul. The organization calls on citizens to ask that the responsible authorities investigate the violence, protect the communities and conclude the demarcations of the indigenous lands in the state.

 

The campaigns refer to two actions against families housed at the side of roads in Mato Grosso do Sul. The first case occurred on the margins of BR-163, on September 14, when employees of the title-holder to the land burned homes and belongings of circa 35 families who had been dispossessed a few days before from the area that the group claims as their traditional land. In the episode that followed, armed men shot one indigenous man, injuring others and burning the barracks of a group of 15 families camped at the side of BR-4.

 

The aggressions are being investigated by the Federal Public Ministry in Mato Grosso do Sul, which, among other aspects, will investigate the participation of the Gaspem security company in the cases. Employees of this company are already involved in various episodes of aggressions against the Guarani Kaiowá, like the dispossession of the Guarani Kaiowá from the Fazenda Campo Belo (2004) and the assassinations of the indigenous leaders Dorvalino Rocha (2005) and Xurete Lopes (2007).

 

The campaigns of Amnesty International also seek to sensitize the government to guaranteeing survival conditions for the indigenous people – the basics of water, protection, food – while they remain encamped together on the streets.

 

Brasilia, 1 October of 2009

Indigenist Missionary Council