IX General Assembly of COIAB elects new directorate
The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) initiated its IX General Assembly on Monday July 20, in the village of Krikati São José, in the state of Maranhão. This year celebrates the 20th anniversary of the founding of the entity.
The primary objective is deliberation on proposed evaluation the Amazonian indigenous movement, to revise and approve the statute; elect new coordinators of COIAB and further to discuss the status of indigenous policy; human rights; impact of the mega projects in indigenous lands; and climate change among other themes.
A presentation by the Krikati people, hosts of the event, welcomed participants and preceded the opening session, which counted the participation of the current general coordinator of COIAB, Jecinaldo Sateré Mawé; Marcos Apurinã, vice-coordinator; CONDEF president Agnelo Xavante; Kleber Karipuna, coordinator-treasurer; executive coordinator of the Articulation of Peoples of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo (APOINME), Zé de Santa; Lourenço Krikati, representative of the COAPIMA (Coordination of the Articulations of the Indigenous Peoples of Maranhão); the coordinator of the recently created Union of Indigenous Women of the Brazilian Amazon (UMIAB), Conserli Sumpré Xerente. Also present were representatives of the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of Cuenca Amazônia (COICA), José V. Muiba (Bolivia); and the Cacique José Krikati, highest local authority, who officially opened the meeting.
The Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the national jurisdiction for the regional indigenous organizations throughout the country, of which COIAB is a part, also participates in the meeting, represented by the coordinator of APOINME and by the representative of the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of the Pantanal and region (ARPIPAN), Nito Guarani.
Indigenous Women
During the Assembly preparation period, on the eve of the encounter, the village of São José was already host to the 3rd Meeting of Indigenous Women of Amazonia, in which an autonomous organization of women was created, which will be actively independent in direct partnership with the COIAB, and named the Union of the Indigenous Women of the Brazilian Amazon – UMIAB.
The UMIAB elected the following women: Concerlei Sumpré Xerente (coordinator general); Edilene Krikati (vice-coordinator), Matilde Madikai (coordinator), Letícia Luiza Yawanawa (coordinator). Initiative for creation of the new organization came from the COIAB Department of Women, coordinated by Maria Miquelina Machado Tukano. “This was one of the greatest advances for indigenous women of Amazonia in the last decade, but we need always to improve and qualify the work. The UMIAB leaves me very encouraged and motivated for this. I see our new organization as an addition to the work that is already being done by COIAB in Manaus, where all of the coordinators are working, with indigenous women”.
The first challenge for the UMIAB will be to establish partnerships in the indigenous movement and seek resources for the organization’s activities. It will initially function through the headquarters of the COIAB in Manaus where all the coordinators will be working with the exception of the representative who will be responsible for articulations in Brasilia. Geici Mura of Amazonas was elected to this office.
Election of the Management Counsel
Election of the Deliberative Management Counsel (CONDEF) was followed by its discussion of a proposal for a new Statute for the COIAB, which will be appraised during the assembly. The CONDEF is responsible for management and application of financial resources of the COIAB. The new directors are: Agnelo Xavante, re-elected to the presidency; Letícia Luiza Yawanawa, vice president; Ivan Guarani, secretary-general and Maximiliano Tukano, assistant to the president.
Agnelo, said to be satisfied with the re-election, analyzed the first term and expressed hopes in moving forward, “In recent years I have needed to press sufficiently to improve the performance and participation of the CONDEF in the affairs of the COIAB. My intent now is to seek, together with the new counselors, even greater rigor in the accomplishment of counsel deliberations to enable our even greater improvement. Until a year and a half ago, there was great difficulty in managing the application of resources, which has already improved 50% between then and now. Now we have to reach 100% with total transparency in the entry of resources in the organizations, which needs to be informed through coordinators at the CONDEF. My expectation is to advance this, to enable us to meet the new challenges”, he stated.
