The Indigenous delegation from Brazil’s Northeastern region, which is denouncing the impact of the transposition of the São Francisco river, encounters great receptivity in Italy, the first country on a tour of Europe. The transposition first became known to Italians through the hunger strikes of Dom Luiz Cappio in 2005 and 2007.

 

In Italy, the issues of water preservation and the privatization of water is very current, with a large movement advocating the democratization of access to water. One of the central complaints regarding the transposition is that the work will benefit primarily the economic sectors of Agribusiness and heavy industries. Thus, the implementation will not solve the problem of access to water by the population of the semi-arid, as claimed by the Brazilian government.

 

European Court

Thursday, January 28, the delegation met with the Mayor of Udine, also former dean of the University of Udine. Professor Furio Honsell, in addition to issuing a political statement and making himself available to articulate the cause together with Italian politicians, proposed the creation of an international team of legal experts in water and the environment, experienced in European court actions.

 

On the same day, the delegation met with the CEVI, an organization with extensive experience in the struggle in defense of water. In the evening there was a public meeting at the Balducci Center, a cultural center for environmental activism and point of care for migrants.

 

Press coverage

On Friday, January 29, the delegation visited the city of Trento, where a press conference was held with the participation of the organizations Unimondo, Ipsia, and the Fontana Foundation. Journalists were very interested in the subject and several articles were published in local newspapers and a national newspaper (Il Manifesto, the leading national newspaper from the left).

 

Following the press conference delegation members were received by the Association Dom Franco Masserdotti, which confirmed its support in the fight against transposition. At least one Italian delegation will come to Brazil to visit the people and communities impacted.

 

In a public meeting in the city of Bolzano, more than 100 people – including several Brazilians living in Italy – debated the transposition and its effects on the indigenous peoples with delegation.

 

Criminalization of the movement

During an interview on local television about the impact of transposition, Pretinha Truká, a leader of the Truká people, emphasized that major developments like the transposition are linked to a strategy of criminalization: "Those who fight for the right to land and water and against the transposition of the river, are criminalized and even murdered. The chief of our people, ‘Neguinho’, is a defendant in multiple cases. In 2005, a leader very important to the struggle of our people was murdered along with his son of 17 years, Adenilson Jorge Santos and Adriano in front of 600 people, including children and elders, by four military police officers. They have not even been arrested. The crimes go unpunished. In 2008, another important leader, Mozena Araujo, who was a key witness in two murders, was also killed on the eve of municipal elections. He was a candidate for alderman and polls indicated that he would carry the vote. If he were alderman, he would be a very important political force for the Truká to have in the chamber of councilmen”.

 

Uilton Santos, representative of the Tuxá people added: "I am a living example of what the aggressions mean to the Sao Francisco River through large scale projects. The traditional territory of the Tuxá people was flooded with the construction of hydroelectric power in Itaparica 1986. My people were divided into three different places and today are still waiting for the federal government to provide us with another land”.

 

Saulo Feitosa, deputy secretary of Cimi, spoke about the social impact caused by canal construction: "In the year in which we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, we are witnessing the creation of another artificial boundary that is dividing traditional communities, this time through a trench, in that the canal is 25 feet wide, 9 feet deep and a "security strip" of 5 kilometers, which impedes communication between people who have always lived in the same location".

 

UN and ILO

Today, Monday, the delegation is in Geneva, Switzerland, meeting with representatives of the United Nations (UN). The contacts confirmed that they are with the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the UN, Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Rights and the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Water. The delegation has also scheduled a meeting with the International Labor Organization (ILO), which issued observations to the Brazilian government on the breach of Convention 169 in the case of São Francisco transposition project. There will also be a meeting with the World Council of Churches and a public meeting with civil society and various Swiss associations and local unions. Then, the delegation will travel to Brussels (Belgium) and Berlin (Germany).

 

More information on the trip:

 

CIMI   (Brasília)  55/61/2106 1666   Paul Wolters (English) / Maíra Heinen (port.)

CIMI Europa       39/33 3634 8279   Martina – delegation coordinator (Italian)

 

Indigenous peoples involved in the Opará campaign and contacts: 

 

Truká people              55/87/ 9606 6065            Cacique (chief) Neguinho

Tumbalalá people      55/87/ 9131 0008            Cacique (chief) Cícero

APOINME                    55/75/ 8815 0715            Dipeta Tuxá

 

Organizations involved in the Opará campaign and publication of the report of denunciation – contacts for information:

 

CPP / NE                  55/75/8835 3113            Alzeni Tomaz

AATR                        55/71/3329 7393            André

Via Campesina        55/82/9950 0227            Hélio

NECTAS/UNEB       55/75/8856 0622            Juracy Marques

Articulação Popular do São Francisco   55/75/8843 5494       Ticiano Rodrigo