DEMONSTRATIONS FOR A NEW POLICY FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WILL BE HELD THROUGHOUT BRAZIL

 

April will be marked by several indigenous events and protests. In addition to criticizing the absence and inefficiency of specific public policies, these events will propose actions to be taken by the Brazilian State in relation to indigenous peoples. Some of these proposals have been presented already in the “April Manifesto” launched today (the 31st) in Brasília.

 

The Manifesto reports that the number of land areas declared as traditionally occupied by indigenous people during the Lula administration is the lowest since the end of the military regime. Thirteen indigenous lands have been declared as such in the two years of the Lula administration, while during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration, which was also indifferent to the issue, 14 indigenous lands were declared as traditionally occupied by indigenous people a year in average. “indigenous lands became political bargaining items in conversations with the governors of some states,” said the organizations gathered in the Forum in Defense of Indigenous Rights which signed the text. (read the full text of the manifesto here)

 

The document also mentions the return of the military to the forums where the indigenous policy is defined and the interference of known “large landowners who disguise their projects as agribusiness-related but are intent on putting an end to the demarcation of indigenous lands. Soybean producer Blairo Maggi, Governor of the state of Mato Grosso, requested the federal administration to declare an illegal and immoral moratorium on further demarcations in the State managed by him and, surprisingly, his request was granted. The demarcation of indigenous lands in the state of Santa Catarina was conditioned to the opinion of an also illegal state-level commission.”

 

The National Foundation for Indigenous People (Funai) was also criticized. “The agency officially in charge of indigenous affairs declared, through its president, Mércio Gomes, the ´end of all demarcation procedures´ with a deadline coinciding with the end of the term of the current federal administration. At the same time, Funai is progressively reducing the number of Technical Groups assigned to identify indigenous lands and refuses to recognize areas unduly excluded from already demarcated lands.”

 

During the ceremony in which the manifesto was launched, indigenous leader Jecinaldo Barbosa, from the Coordinating Board of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon Region (Coiab), stressed that the lack of a clear policy for indigenous people “disorganizes” the government. “For this reason, although funds are available for health care purposes, for example, the problem remains,” he said.

 

The document proposes the following points for structuring a consistent indigenous policy:

 

– the creation of a National Indigenous Policy Council with the assured participation of indigenous people and civil society in it.

– Congress should reject constitutional amendment bill n.38/1999 and bill n. 188/2004 proposed by senators Mozarildo Cavalcante and Delcídio Amaral, as well as other legislative initiatives aimed at obstructing or preventing the recognition of indigenous territories. It also proposes that indigenous rights be regulated in the Charter of Indigenous Societies and not isolatedly.

– the minister of Justice should declare immediately that the following lands should be exclusively occupied by indigenous people: 1. Morro dos Cavalos (state of Santa Catarina), 2. Las Casas (state of Pará), 3. Aldeia Condá (state of Santa Catarina), 4. Toldo Imbu (state of Santa Catarina), 5. Piaçaguera (state of São Paulo), 6. Toldo Pinhal (state of Santa Catarina), 7. Yvy-Katu (state of Mato Grosso do Sul), 8. Cachoeirinha (state of Mato Grosso do Sul), 9. Batelão (state of Mato Grosso) and 10. Balaio (state of Amazonas). The Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous land should have its bounds officially confirmed as a continuous area.

– legal assurance of the mechanisms provided for in the Convention on Biological Diversity for a fair and equitable sharing of benefits and prior and informed approval for accessing the knowledge of indigenous peoples and local populations.

 

Report of Amnesty International

 

Also during the ceremony in which the manifesto was launched to the press, the vice president of Cimi, Saulo Done, stressed the harmony between the proposals made by the Forum and those presented by Amnesty International (AI), which issued a report yesterday (the 30th) called “Foreigners in our own country.”

 

The recommendations of Amnesty International include the restructuring of the official indigenous agency and compliance with the commitments made during Lula’s electoral campaign. They also indicate that “fair and quick solutions to unsettled claims on indigenous lands could have a high impact in reducing poverty and violence levels and other abuses against indigenous peoples. This issue should be given priority immediately by the Brazilian Government as a constitutional obligation.”

 

Focused on violations of the human rights of Brazilian indigenous peoples, the AI report highlights two main realities: the fact that indigenous groups have been deprived of their lands – which have been illegally occupied by farmers, not demarcated, or appropriated by the armed forces – and the conflicts and murders affecting the Cinta Larga in Rondônia, the Xucuru in Pernambuco, the Guarani- Kaiowá in Mato Grosso do Sul and the Kaingang in Rio Grande do Sul.

 

Camp

 

The activities of the “Indigenous April” will end with a large camp at the Esplanada dos Ministérios (the area where all ministries are located) in Brasília. Five typical indigenous huts will be built there for plenary meetings, workshops and seminars.

 

The camp will remain there from April 24 to May 3, when it will join a march of rural workers organized by Via Campesina.

 

ÑANDE RU MARANGATU LAND HAS ITS BOUNDS OFFICIALLY CONFIRMED. THREAT OF EVICTION CONTINUES IN THE BURITI LAND 

 

On March 29, the bounds of the Ñande Ru Marangatu indigenous land, located in the municipality of Antônio João, state of Mato Grosso do Sul, were officially confirmed. The demarcation decree signed by the President of the Republic ensures the Guarani-Kaiowá the right to remain in their traditional territory.

 

The federal administration will now have to remove farmers who invaded the indigenous land from it, so that these indigenous people may live in their land.

 

The Ñande Ru Marangatu land was demarcated in October 2004, and it comprises 9,316 hectares. In the same month, the Guarani-Kaiowá of the region, who until then lived in a 26- hectare area, reoccupied about 500 hectares of their traditional lands.

 

Refusing to accept the recognition of the lands as traditionally occupied by indigenous people, some farmers filed a suit to evict the indigenous people from their demarcated lands.

 

In the reoccupied land, the Guarani-Kaiowá of the Ñande Ru Marangatu area could once again grow manioc, beans, corn, potatoes, rice, and banana for their own subsistence.

 

The legal dispute involving the Ñande Ru Marangatu area is based on the same arguments against indigenous rights which are being used in other lawsuits involving land areas in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, such as the Buriti land of the Terena people, located in the municipalities of Dois Irmãos do Buriti and Sidrolândia. A repossession order issued by a court may be complied with as of today (the 31st).

 

Yesterday (the 30th), indigenous leaders who were attending the Regional Conference on Indigenous Policies in Mato Grosso do Sul blocked a road between the cities of Dourados and Ponta Porã and staged a demonstration to express their solidarity toward the Terena people and demand the official recognition of all indigenous lands in the state.

 

Brasília, 31 March 2005.

 

Cimi – Indianist Missionary Council