• 17/08/2010

    Moção de repúdio às práticas de planejamento e de licenciamento dos projetos de desenvolvimento no Brasil

    A Assembléia Geral da Associação Brasileira de Antropologia vem a público manifestar o seu repúdio à condução dos processos de implementação de projetos de desenvolvimento e infraestrutura que hoje ocorrem no país à revelia dos princípios e fundamentos que deveriam nortear o planejamento estratégico das políticas estatais numa perspectiva democrática. Esses projetos podem modificar drasticamente as condições sociais e ambientais em que vivem comunidades e povos diversos, os quais são alijados dos processos decisórios.

     

    Estando reunidos no Pará, é digno de nota o emblemático caso da Usina Hidrelétrica de Belo Monte. Neste episódio, evidencia-se que a premência do desenvolvimento dos projetos e dos interesses empresariais e estatais impede a realização de estudos adequados e que os povos conheçam, reflitam e se posicionem como sujeitos diante das transformações que lhes poderão afetar. Esse processo evidencia, ainda, o desrespeito aos órgãos públicos e suas equipes técnicas, a debilidade das audiências públicas e a ausência de consultas adequadas aos povos indígenas e demais grupos sociais atingidos.

     

    É imperativo que o processo de planejamento seja pautado pelo respeito aos diversos modos de vida e territorialidades vividas pelos grupos sociais. É inaceitável que nos processos de implementação dos projetos sejam desrespeitados os princípios que amparam as normas e os prazos previstos na legislação. A constituição de uma sociedade livre, justa e democrática pressupõe o reconhecimento da legitimidade de todos os interessados na construção do processo decisório e no constante exercício do controle sobre as decisões tomadas.

     

    É por isso que, reunidos em assembléia geral, repudiamos a forma arbitrária como vem sendo conduzido esse processo e exigimos o respeito aos princípios constitucionais.

     

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  • 17/08/2010

    Encontro de Mulheres Indígenas do Regional Leste

    Após três dias de ricas reflexões, espiritualidade e troca de experiências, as mulheres indígenas do Regional Leste, reunidas na Aldeia Caramuru, município de Pau Brasil (BA), deram por encerrado o II Encontro Regional das Mulheres Indígenas. Ao final do encontro, que aconteceu entre os dias 13 e 15 de agosto, foi lançado um documento, onde expressam suas angústias, esperanças e exigências, sobretudo sobre os seus direitos, condenam a perseguição sistemática e histórica contra seus povos e denunciam o intenso processo de discriminação e criminalização de suas lutas.

     

    Aliadas as companheiras quilombolas, trabalhadoras rurais e lutadoras urbanas, elas refletiram sobre o tema “A luta das mulheres indígenas pela igualdade de direitos e qualidade de vida de seus povos”. Durante o encontro, somando forças com seus aliados e parceiros, discutiram soluções para resolver os graves problemas enfrentados com as invasões ou até mesmo negação de seus territórios tradicionais.

     

    Leia na íntegra o documento final

     

    O encontro teve por objetivo principal contribuir com o processo de participação das mulheres indígenas e suas organizações, visando o fortalecimento das lutas pela recuperação dos seus territórios, possibilitando momentos de formação, informação, de troca de saberes entre os grupos e rearticulação da Comissão de Organização das Mulheres Indígenas no Leste (Comil).

     

    Ao final do encontro, as indígtenas, trabalhadoras rurais, quilombolas e representantes de trabalhadoras urbanas deram um grito de basta a todo e qualquer tipo de violência e discriminação contra seus povos e suas lutas: “Nós mulheres não queremos violência. Nossa igualdade está em nossa consciência”.

     

    Leia na íntegra o documento final

     

    Participação

     

     

    Participaram do encontro cerca de 250 mulheres das diversas comunidades indígenas dos estados da Bahia (Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe, Tupinambá de Olivença, Pataxó do Extremo sul, Tupinambá do Jequitionha e Tuxá), de Minas Gerais (Xakriabá, Aranã, Kaxixó) e do Espírito Santo (Tupiniquim e Guarani).

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  • 17/08/2010

    Documento Final do II Encontro Regional de Mulheres Indígenas do Regional Leste

    Motivadas e animadas pelo tema “A luta das mulheres indígenas pela igualdade de direitos e qualidade de vida de seus povos”, nós, mulheres indígenas dos povos Xacriabá (Minas Gerais), Tupiniquim (Espírito Santo); Tupinambá de Olivença e da Serra do Padeiro, Pataxó do Extremo sul e Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe (Bahia), Mulheres Quilombolas e Trabalhadoras Rurais – além das entidades de apoio, parceiros e aliados – reunidas na Aldeia Caramuru, do Povo Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe, no município de Pau Brasil, no sul da Bahia, no II Encontro Regional das Mulheres Indígenas do Regional Leste entre os dias 13 a 15 de agosto de 2010, após profundas e ricas discussões, oficinas temáticas e mesas de debate, manifestamos e apresentamos o que segue:

     

    1-      Repudiamos e denunciamos a criminalização das lideranças indígenas, em especial do Cacique Babau e seus irmãos Givaldo e Glicéria Tupinambá. São insuportáveis o intenso processo de criminalização contra as nossas comunidades, as prisões ilegais, as injúrias divulgadas pela mídia local, os processos forjados e mentirosos contra as nossas lideranças e as diversas barbaridades cometidas contra os nossos povos. Em apoio aos diversos habeas corpus em curso no Tribunal de Justiça da Bahia, solicitamos a imediata libertação do Cacique Babau e seu irmão Givaldo, que se encontram presos em Salvador, bem como da sua irmã e nossa parente Glicéria e seu filho Éruthawã de apenas quatro meses, que encontram enclausurados em um presídio em Jequié, todos presos injusta e ilegalmente, apenas por lutar pelos direitos do povo Tupinambá. Solicitamos providências urgentes que barrem este processo de criminalização contra as nossas comunidades.

     

    2-      Denunciamos e repudiamos a demora na resolução da regularização dos nossos territórios e exigimos agilidade nos processos de demarcação, desintrusão e proteção destes, garantias inscritas na Constituição Federal. Reivindicamos a imediata demarcação do território Tupinambá de Olivença; a continuidade do julgamento da Ação de Nulidade de Títulos incidente sobre o território Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe no Supremo Tribunal Federal (ACO 312) e a retirada de seus invasores; a solução imediata e adequada dos processos de demarcação e delimitação dos territórios de Barra Velha e Cahy do Povo Pataxó no Extremo sul da Bahia; e a pronta demarcação das áreas reivindicadas pelo povo Xacriabá no norte de Minas Gerais.

     

    3-      Repudiamos e denunciamos a violência sistemática e ininterrupta contra as mulheres indígenas, bem como a negação de seus direitos.

     

    4-      Repudiamos e denunciamos a omissão do Estado sobre as denúncias de violação dos direitos humanos dos povos indígenas, em especial no direito à vida, à liberdade, à alteridade, à autodeterminação e aos seus territórios tradicionais.

     

    5-      Denunciamos, repudiamos e solicitamos providências sobre a postura e as práticas da Fundação Nacional de Saúde –FUNASA, que tem sido omissa em nossas comunidades causando muito transtornos em nossas vidas, e prejudicando muito a situação da saúde em nossa aldeia;

     

    6-      Repudiamos e denunciamos as inúmeras agressões cometidas contra as companheiras quilombolas, a exemplo da negação de seus direitos e às várias tentativas de supressão do direito constitucional de reconhecimento e regularização dos seus territórios tradicionais.

     

    7-      Repudiamos, denunciamos e solicitamos a imediata libertação dos diversos companheiros e da companheira do Movimento Sem Terra que se encontram detidos no oeste da Bahia, de forma injusta por lutar pela realização do preceito constitucional da Reforma Agrária.

     

    Definimos pela reativação e rearticulação da Comissão de Organização das Mulheres Indígenas do Leste – COMIL – como um espaço de articulação fortalecimento das nossas lutas, e também espaço de mobilização, de troca de experiências e de saberes entre as mulheres indígenas do Regional Leste. A equipe de animadoras deste espaço definida neste Encontro ficou formada pelas parentes Marlene Alves Braz e Cleuza Vieira dos Santos, suplente Suely Alves Braz, do povo Pataxó do Extremo sul; Marilene Jesus Santos e Ilza Rodrigues, suplentes Marielma Pinto Silva e Maria D’Ajuda Souza Silva, Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe; Domingas Pereira e Cristina Nunes, suplentes Maria Aparecida Barros e Lílian Alves do povo Xacriabá; Margarida Pego Souza, suplente Alzira Francisco do povo Tupinikim; Maria da Glória Araújo, suplente Carolina Magalhães Pinto do povo Tupinambá de Olivença; Lúcia Maria dos Santos e Rita de Cássia Costa dos Santos, Tupinambá da Serra do Padeiro.    

     

    Reafirmamos o nosso compromisso com as nossas crenças, costumes e com nossos povos. Reafirmamos nossa crença no Estado Democrático de Direito e que, apesar de séculos de omissão, continuamos acreditando que o Estado Brasileiro possa reparar os erros históricos cometidos no passado e no presente contra os povos indígenas, através da efetivação dos direitos constitucionais, entre os quais o de ser diferente e viver de forma diferenciada, o direito a seus territórios e à proteção social.

     

    Alicerçadas em nossa história e na força dos nossos antepassados, guiadas por nossas encantadas e encantados, preservando nossas tradições e fortalecendo a cada dia as nossas articulações e parcerias, nos comprometemos a continuar na luta pela igualdade de direitos, na defesa de nossas comunidades e da qualidade de vida de nossos povos.

     

     

    “Nós mulheres não queremos violência, nossa igualdade está em nossa consciência”.

     

     

    Aldeia Caramuru, 15 de agosto de 2010. 

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  • 17/08/2010

    Central points Report on Violence Against Indigenous Peoples in Brazil – 2009

    54% of all indigenous murders were registered in Mato Grosso do Sul.


    The Report on Violence Against Indigenous Peoples in Brazil-2009 once again highlights the sad situation of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) in the matter of violence against the indigenous peoples. With the highest incidence of murders – 54% – and elevated numbers relative to violence and neglect, the reality in the state confirms the direct relationship between land conflicts and violence. In these conflicts agribusiness and large scale plantations are posed against the indigenous peoples.


    In the reports published since 2005, the difference was always striking when MS was compared to other parts of the country, a situation which persists in 2009. Last year, there were 60 cases of indigenous murder and of these, 33 were in MS. Recognizing the stark reality, CIMI legal counsel, together with its president, Don Erwin Kräutler and Secretary General of the CNBB, Dom Dimas Lara Barbosa visited some of the Kaiowá Guarani communities in the state, in March 2010, to witness their situations first hand and also to demonstrate support of the organization for these indigenous people.


    In the report covering the year 2009, Iara Tatiana Bonin, PhD Ed. at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), highlights the question of "institutional racism in Mato Grosso do Sul, tracking the connection between strategies of confinement of indigenous communities in the 1920s, until the present invasions of lands by large-scale landowners. "The Guarani Kaiowá today constitute the largest ethnic group in the country, and also most intensely suffering the effects of a model of occupation and exploitation of land for agribusiness", she highlights in her text.


    Violence: omission and  failure of assistance by the State
    In 2009, the 133 registered cases of violence were provoked by omissions of government. Among the occurrences highlighted, once again, elevated mortality numbers were due to failures in health assistance, 41 in total. Of this number, 22 victims were among the Xavante people, of the community Parabubure, located in Nova Xavantina, Mato Grosso.


    According to information from CIMI missionaries, deaths occurred due to a variety of failings in the health services for the indigenous people over a period of two months. In the region there is no transport the work and prevention [measures] by health staff; lack of mattresses, medicines and basic materials, including for hygienic maintenance.


    Another alarming set of data reflects a high malnutrition index. During the past year 90 cases were recorded in the Guarani Kaiowá community of Dourados, Mato Grosso do Sul.  Added to this number are nine infant deaths due to low birth weight: 7 in São Paulo; one in Tocantins, and one in Paraná.


    Criminalization: indigenous victim of persecution and violence in Brazil

    The Report indicates that there is a growing process of criminalization of indigenous leaders and intensification in actions against their struggles in several states. The cases receiving the most attention were the one involving the Tupinambá, in Bahia, and the one involving a large number of Xukuru leaders in Pernambuco experiencing persecution.

     
    In June of  2009, five indigenous persons of the Tupinambá community of Serra do  Padeiro, in the municipality of Buerarema, were captured and beaten by Federal Police. During the action, they were handcuffed, immobilized on the ground and received large doses of a chemical product, known as pepper spray, in their eyes. Medical examinations verified that three of them had received electric shocks in the dorsal and genital regions. These assaults, practiced with a refined cruelty and torture, were intended to intimidate the indigenous people into leaving the land that they traditionally occupy.

     

    Thirty-five leaders of the Xukuru people are being criminalized. They were indicted and prosecuted for a variety of crimes, when in fact they are remaining steadfast in the struggle for recognition of their traditional territory


    Violence of the large projects
    The report further presents data on forms of violence and damage to the environment arising from omissions by government agencies, such as morosity in demarcation of the indigenous lands and land conflicts.


    Other data make reference to the damages caused by major projects of the federal government. The works range from small central hydropower  for ecotourism programs, gas pipelines, mineral exploitation, railways and waterways. Such projects impact indigenous territories and affect the lives of several groups of indigenous peoples, including those who have little or no contact with the surrounding society.


    An example of such works is the Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the state of Pará, on the Xingu river. The project, advocated by the government as a source of development, will in fact precipitate disastrous and irreversible consequences to the environment and communities in the region. Several specialists and social movement organizations have documented the endless number of irregularities involved in the project, including failure to abide by Convention 169 of International Labour Organisation (ILO), which assures the right to hearings for indigenous peoples in cases where projects affect them.

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  • 16/08/2010

    Coletiva de imprensa abre ATL 2010 em Campo Grande

    Discriminação dos povos indígenas no MS e a falta de demarcação de terras foram os assuntos de destaque

    Por Maíra Heinen
    De Campo Grande (MS)

    O Acampamento Terra Livre 2010 teve início nesta segunda-feira, 16, em Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul(MS), com uma coletiva de imprensa. Os organizadores e lideranças indígenas presentes puderam expor os principais pontos a serem discutidos durante todo o evento, que segue até o dia 19 de agosto com uma extensa pauta abarcando questões como saúde, educação, demarcação de terras indígenas, criminalização de lideranças, discriminação, entre outros.

    As principais lideranças do movimento indígena nacional fizeram parte da mesa e apresentaram, de forma breve, as principais reivindicações . Romancil Kretã, liderança Kaingang do Paraná soube sintetizar as razões do evento estar acontecendo em Campo Grande. "Este é o estado do Brasil que mais discrimina os povos indígenas e precisamos mostrar esta realidade para a sociedade! Somos estrangeiros dentro de nossas próprias terras, pois a Constituição brasileira não é respeitada e as leis que surgem só marginalizam os povos indígenas!", declarou.

    Irajá Pataxó falou em nome dos povos indígenas do nordeste e ressaltou o problema da criminalização. "Somos os donos desta terra e eu venho da Bahia, um estado onde três lideranças indígenas estão presas pro lutar por suas terras e por seus direitos! Nosso povo precisa de dignidade!"

    A questão da demarcação de terras dos povos indígenas no Mato Grosso do Sul teve bastante destaque em todas as falas. "Este é um estado em que um boi vale mais que uma criança, um lugar em que a cana vale mais que todo o povo indígena reunido!", destacou Anastácio Peralta, liderança Guarani Kaiowá. "Os grandes empresários pisam em nós, mas nós não podemos nos encolher diante destas coisas, precisamos lutar!", completou.

    Durante a coletiva muitos jornalistas questionaram se houve avanços na questão indígena durante a gestão do presidente Lula. Os indígenas foram enfáticos que em relação à demarcação de terras, foi muito aquém do esperado. "É claro que houve conquistas, mas quero ressaltar que foram conquistas do movimento indígena. Mas no que tange à demarcação de terras, não estamos nem um pouco satisfeitos!", destacou Kretã.

    O acampamento segue até o dia 19, quando os indígenas farão um documento com as principais reivindicações e que deverá ser entregue aos cadidatos à presidência da República.

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  • 16/08/2010

    Concedida liberdade a cacique Babau e seus irmãos Givaldo e Glicéria

    O Juiz de Direito da Comarca de Buerarema (BA), Antônio Carlos de Souza Hygino, concedeu hoje (16) liberdade a Rosilvado Ferreira da Silva, mais conhecido como cacique Babau, e a seus irmãos Gilvado Jesus da Silva e Glicéria Jesus da Silva. A decisão revoga os mandados de prisão expedidos contra outros indígenas da Comunidade Tupinambá da Serra do Padeiro.

     

    O habeas corpus deferido foi impetrado pela Fundação Nacional do Índio (Funai) em 26 de julho. Com a decisão, Hygino determina que o diretor do Conjunto Penal de Jequié, município baiano, coloque em liberdade Glicéria. O mesmo deverá acontecer com Rosilvado e Givaldo presos no Complexo Penitenciário Lemos de Brito, em Salvador.

     

    Com esta decisão, o segundo HC impetrado pela Funai, bem como os habeas corpus impetrados pela Assessoria Jurídica do Cimi e pela indígena Pataxó Hã-Hã-Hãe, Patrícia Rodrigues dos Santos Moraes, devem perder o objeto.

     

    Aguarda-se que em poucas horas, Rosilvado, Givaldo e Glicéria sejam postos em liberdade.

     

    Entenda o caso

     

    Babau foi preso na madrugada do dia 10 de março, enquanto dormia em sua casa com a mulher e o filho. A ação truculenta da Polícia Federal aconteceu de forma ilegal, com evidente violação de residência, prisão por policiais federais não identificados e demora na apresentação da liderança à delegacia. A prisão aconteceu às 2h30, mas Babau só chegou à delegacia pela manhã apresentando hematomas no rosto e dores nos rins.

     

    O irmão de Babau, Givaldo Jesus da Silva, também estava preso preventivamente por decisão do juiz federal Pedro Holliday. Ele foi detido em frente à garagem onde entregava seu carro para consertos, em Buerarema.

     

    Já Glicéria Jesus da Silva foi detida quando desembarcava no aeroporto de Ilhéus, no dia 2 de junho. Na ocasião, ela tentava retornar á sua comunidade após uma visita com o presidente Lula em Brasília. Na ocasião, ela foi presa junto com seu filho de apenas dois meses.

     

    Trancafiados

     

    Desde a prisão da importante liderança Tupinambá, os indígenas do Sul do estado vivem amedrontados e trancafiados em suas aldeias. Os alunos da comunidade Serra do Padeiro, onde cacique Babau mora, estão sem ir às aulas ou à cidade desde março quando Rosivaldo foi retirado de sua casa, durante a madrugada, pela Polícia Federal. Têm sido constantes as ameaças de fazendeiros, pistoleiros e até de populares aos indígenas, inclusive nas salas de aula.

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  • 16/08/2010

    Report no. 921: Indigenous leaders call for improved care and respect

    The Indigenous Karaja and Kanela Commission attempt in vain to speak with the president of Funai.

     
    A commission formed by 12 indigenous leaders of the Karaja and  Kanela peoples of Araguaia has been in Brasilia since Monday (July 5) to speak with the president of the National  Foundation of Indigenous Affairs (FUNAI), Márcio Meira. The group seeks to discuss Decree 7.056/09, which restructures the agency. The Karaja live in Ilha do Bananal, Tocantins and the Kanela of Araguaia  live in the region of Sao Felix do Araguaia, in Mato Grosso.
    The trip to the Brasilia headquarters of Funai  is to portray the various problems faced by communities with changes in to services provided by the agency. These services were previously provided through the Araguaia Regional Administration, located in St. Felix, which also served the people of the Ilha do Bananal region. However, since last year, when the decree was signed by the president, the calls have been paralyzed.


    Regional administrations, according to the decree, will be eliminated and  regional coordinators created. The group calls for a coordinating body that would be responsible for services in the region, located at Palmas (TO) also serve communities of more than 28 municipalities. "It is practically impossible, because this coordinating body will not meet so many people, in addition, the municipalities are very far apart," they say.
    "After this decree many Indians have died without treatment, due to alcoholism and other problems that affect our community as we are without any source of income, such as farming project," said John Werra, the people Karaja.
    Also according to the natives, the end of the regional administration has caused a series of raids in the region of Banana Island. The invaders come steal the land and sell fish, turtles and other natural resources found in the region.
    It’s been six months and technical staff of FUNAI does not appear in the region, so the group has come for a response from the body. "We want them to resolve the situation, because lives are at stake," said the representative of the people Kanela lenim Werra, who is president of the Association Wyky Mahadu Iny, JK Village.
    They also criticize the process of construction and approval of the decree. "The whole process was flawed because it did not hear the people, not done a proper study to end with the authorities and create coordination. Everything was done from above, a total lack of consideration of the country’s president with indigenous peoples, "said Edmilson Moreira Karaja.
    Meeting in St. Felix
    While the group that came to Brasília can not talk with Marcio Meira and is greeted with fear and unwillingness by the Foundation staff in Brasília, Secretary of the President of FUNAI reported that it will meet tomorrow (9), Pedro Casaldaliga, in Sao Felix do Araguaia, in Mato Grosso.
    Terena leaders denounce attacks on the MPF of Mato Grosso do Sul
    In June this year Terena indigenous leaders of the people of the Indigenous Land Cachoeirinha, municipality of Miranda, sent letter to the Federal Prosecutor of Mato Grosso do Sul denouncing the numerous attacks that have been victims since regained part of their traditional land, known as Tumuné Kalivono on October 22, 2009.
    08/07/2010 – 19:40 – Report No. 921: Indigenous leaders call for better care and respect

    "Since the expulsion from our land resumed, this action made by the Federal Police and Military Police of Mato Grosso do Sul, we suffered a series of threats and intimidation of several people living in Miranda," say the leaders in the document.
    Among the reported assault are the deterioration of traditional territory, the removal of timber from legal reserve which is in the area claimed by the community, harassment and attacks on indigenous people.
    On June 16, Lindomar Terena Terena and Germano walked the bike through the city center, where, according to the community, were approached and chased by a local resident who was also on a motorcycle and the vehicle went on to play against them .
    There are several situations of discrimination and disrespect experienced by the Terena who live in Miranda. Since the withdrawal group Tumuné Kalivono, the community is threatened and assaulted with foul language.
    Also according to the leaders, on the expulsion of its people, an agreement was signed between indigenous and farmer who claims to be the owner of the area claimed by the group, it would return the belongings of the Indians who could not be evacuated at the time of withdrawal from the group ranch.
    "The farmer said he would leave our things at the farm gate. However, after several days, nothing happened. We were simply informed that the agreement will not be fulfilled and that we will not back our horses, cows, stoves and documents ", say.
    To the leaders actions are strategies to intimidate the community, which has jeopardized the peace and integrity of its people. They ask for the steps to establish the criminal acts committed against the people and to curb the threats that are imposed.

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  • 16/08/2010

    Fórum Social das Américas: A Vida pede passagem

    Quando o cacique Ava Guarani, Ernesto, timidamente começou a agitar-se, numa pequena tenda do Fórum Social das Américas, o coração do continente pareceu acompanhar o ritmo cadenciado da sabedoria e espiritualidade milenar. Ele invocou todas as forças pelo reconhecimento do direito dos povos originários, mas invocou em especial as energias de Tupã e dos espíritos por todas as formas de vida acolhidas e alimentadas pela mãe terra e a natureza.

     

    “Não devemos sentir vergonha de nossa cultura. Vamos erguer nossa voz bem alto e nossas danças para ouvir e receber a sabedoria”.  A voz e invocação Guarani de Ernesto se espalharam por todos os espaços, “carpas, bloques, aulas, planta baixa, planta alta, polideportivo, cantinas…” à sombra das árvores, nas ruas e calçadas por onde fluem os milhares de participantes desse Fórum. Centenas de atividades autogestionadas e cogestionadas, que terminaram com expressivos painéis e apresentações culturais no final do dia e à noite. Rigoberta Menchú, indígena da Guatemala, prêmio Nobel da Paz, juntamente com as vozes de Bolívia, Equador e Paraguai, trouxeram importantes elementos sobre o “bem viver e os direitos da mãe terra”. As reflexões e debates são feitos na memória de milhares de heróis que neste continente construíram grandes civilizações e derramaram seu sangue pela vida em plenitude. A recuperação dessa sabedoria impulsiona, inspira e alimenta a esperança na construção desse novo projeto civilizatório.

     

    A centralidade da vida

     

    Uma das marcas desse Fórum é a centralidade da vida. Ela se agita, grita, apresenta em sua diversidade ameaçada, em sua espiritualidade reprimida, em sua pluralidade condenada… “Para o capitalismo o que importa é o capital, o lucro, para o socialismo é o ser humano e para nós o mais importante é a VIDA”, disse David Choquehuanca, chanceler, indígena boliviano, em sua fala sobre o bem viver e os direitos da mãe terra.

     

    Rigoberta Menchú chamou atenção para as conseqüências desastrosas do modelo civilizatório colonial e capitalismo para os povos nativos e originários do continente, que está provocando uma deterioração da vida comunitária, destruição de milhares de formas de vida, provocando uma decadência social, material e espiritual. Diante desse quadro de destruição e morte convoca todos os povos da resistência, movimentos sociais, lutadores e lutadoras do continente para a construção de uma agenda comum que possibilite avançar na construção dessa alternativa civilizatória, com profundo respeito à diversidade e sem sectarismos. Irene Leon falou da primavera política que vive Latinoamerica, destacando “a construção de relações harmoniosas e de interdependência entre o vivente: seres humanos entre si; seres humanos e natureza… destaca a centralidade da reprodução ampliada da vida”.

     

    Por isso se insistiu na necessidade de mudar o processo de produção, não pensando na acumulação, mas produzir para a vida.

     

    O grito dos afogados de Itaipu

     

    Uma das mesas de debate foi sobre “os impactos de Itaipu sobre as comunidades Ava Guarani. Várias lideranças Guarani, cujos tekoha – terras tradicionais – foram tomadas pelas águas da hidrelétrica de Itaipu, trouxeram seu clamor diante da criminosa omissão e desrespeito da empresa Itaipu e do governo em garantir terra às 38 comunidades desalojadas com a formação do lago. Já se passam trinta anos e as famílias continuam sofrendo na diáspora forçada provocada pela Itaipu. As lideranças não apenas veem denunciar essa violação de seus direitos, mas pedem apoio de todos os povos do continente para sua decisão de retornar à região do rio Paraná.

     

    Em depoimentos emocionados os expulsos pela Itaipu contam as três décadas de sofrimento, perambulando pela região, ou confinados a alguns nos mil hectares que Itaipu comprou, em terra seca, os Guarani que tinham como habitat as beiras do rio Paraná. Essa situação teve um enorme impacto sobre milhares de Guarani expulsos pela Itaipu: desde a destruição das relações sociais e familiares, até os inúmeros suicídios. Continuam na dispersão, mas tem um grande sonho e uma determinação – voltar a reagrupar as mais de 500 famílias Ava Guarani paranaenses e retornar à região donde foram expulsos.

     

    Foi lembrado que do lado brasileiro a história não foi muito diferente. Depois de pressionados pelo avanço célere da agricultura mecanizada, do agronegócio, as comunidades Guarani foram sendo dispersadas e expulsas. De um lado e outro do rio Paraná eles foram brutalmente tangidas pelas frentes de expansão econômica e interesses energéticos. Depois de três décadas continuam clamando por justiça, que é fundamentalmente a garantia de terras onde possam continuar vivendo como povo Guarani.

     

    Neste debate proposto pela Comissão Nacional de Pastoral Indígena (Conapi) Irmã Mariblanca fez uma detalhada exposição sobre o marco legal dos direitos indígenas, desrespeitados pela Itaipu, e as graves conseqüências para o povo Ava Guarani.

     

    No final do dia houve um dos mais concorridos encontros do Fórum, onde compareceu o presidente Lugo, que poucas horas antes havia retornado ao país, após tratamento de saúde realizado no Brasil. Em saudação emocionada, agradeceu a todos destacando a importância desse momento para o fortalecimento do processo de mudanças no Paraguai.

     

    Egon Heck

    Povo Guarani Grande Povo

    Assuncion, 14 de agosto de 2010

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  • 16/08/2010

    Violence against Indigenous Peoples: indices continue to be alarming

    CIMI releases Report on Violence Against Indigenous Peoples in Brazil.

    Data references calendar year 2009

     

    There are 60 murder cases, 19 suicides, 16 cases of attempted murder, and the list goes on. These are just some of the critical data that will be presented by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) through the Report on Violence Against Indigenous Peoples in Brazil – 2009. Much information is comparable to the 2008 report, which does not diminish the gravity of the matter, because the numeric repetition only confirms the quotidian violence experienced by indigenous peoples in all regions.

     
    On July 9, Cimi presents one more alarming report on the violence suffered by indigenous peoples in the country. The launch of the publication will be at the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), at 15:00 with the presence of the general secretary of the CNBB, Dom Dimas Lara, Ph.D. in anthropology from the PUC-SP, research coordinator Lucia Helena Rangel, CIMI president Don Erwin Kräutler, and vice president and legal counsel Roberto Antonio Liebgott.

    Varied forms of  Violence
    As stressed in his introductory text, Roberto Liebgott notes that the Report demonstrates "omission as the political option of the federal government in relation to indigenous peoples". This attitude is implicit in different forms of violence, such as non-demarcation of land, lack of protection of indigenous lands, neglect in the areas of health and education, intimacy with the execution of leaders, attacks on encampments and other aggressions by security agents, attacks on indigenous peoples in situations of isolation, torture by federal police and suicides among others.


    The cases of violence against indigenous peoples are not ceasing. In the report, which covers data for the year 2009, once again calls attention to the concentration of rights violation cases in Mato Grosso do Sul, especially those related to the Kaiowá Guarani people. In this state, where the second largest indigenous population of the country lives, more than 53,000 people, the constitutional rights of these peoples are more than ignored.


    In past year alone, 33 murders of indigenous persons occurred in MS, which represents 54% of the total of 60 cases presented in the report. Such occurrences are characterized by Iara Tatiana Bonin,  PhD.Ed., as institutional racism. "The systematic violence recorded in recent years permits the assertion that a type of institutional racism is configured in this state, materialized in actions of civil groups and omissions by public powers".


    The Report further indicates the conflicted situation in which the indigenous people of southern Bahia live. In the region it is easy to verify a growing process of criminalization of leaders and intensified actions against indigenous peoples. In 2009, five indigenous members of the Tupinambá community of Serra do Padeiro were captured and assaulted during an action by Federal Police. During the action they received electric shocks in the dorsal and genital regions.

     
    High indices of violence are still registered in refeerence to assaults on indigenous patrimony caused by large projects of the federal government. The works range from small hydropower programs for ecotourism, gas pipelines, mineral exploration/exploitation, railways and waterways. These projects impact indigenous territories and affect the lives of diverse peoples, including those who have little or no contact with surrounding society.


    An example of such works is the Belo Monte hydroelectric, planned for the state of Pará on the Xingu river. The project advanced by the government as a source of development, will in fact bring disastrous and irreversible damage to the environment and communities in the region. Numerous specialists and social movements have pointed to the endless number of irregularities involving the work, such as failure to comply with Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which guarantees the right of the people to be heard in the case of projects that affect them.


    Methodology and purpose
    The research methodology employed is the same utilized in previous years: taking as source, news reports carried in newspapers, magazines, radio, internet sites, in addition to systematic records kept by the regional staff teams of  CIMI. According to Professor Lúcia Rangel, "It is not possible to verify a diminution of  conflicts and situations of violence, even if some numbers are lower than those recorded in previous years". She also emphasizes that the report does not cover all cases and only reports cases of record that were possible to obtain during the calendar year.

    In order to prevent  the reality of violence against these people becoming trivialized, CIMI makes explicit reporting of these aggressions to the public, to organizations in defense of human rights – at the national and international level – legislators, judges and authorities. And, as Liebgott states, the conviction of CIMI is that this entire reality must be confronted and those responsible denounced.

    to download the complete report, click here

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  • 16/08/2010

    Letter to UN special rapporteurs denouncing criminalization of Tupinambá

    Official Communication JG/RJ no.***/10

                                                                           

                                                                                                    Rio de Janeiro, *** of 2010

     

    Mr. James ANAYA

    UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights and fundamental freedoms of the Indigenous Peoples

     

    Mr. Manfred NOWAK

    UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment

     

    Ms. Margareth SEKAGGYA

    UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders

     

    Messers. El Hadji Malick SOW,  Shaheen Sardar ALI,  Roberto GARRETON, Vladimir TOCHILOVSKY , Mads ANDENAS

    Working Group on Arbitrary Detention

     

    Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

    The United Nations (UN)

    CH-1211

    Geneva, Switzerland

     

     

    Via electronic mail: [email protected].

     

    Ref: Information about illegal arrest of indigenous leader of the Tupinambá people and about five Tupinambá indigenous people, victims of torture caused in an operation of repossession carried out by Federal Police agents, state of Bahia, Brazil.

    Esteemed Special Rapporteurs,


    The Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) and Global Justice hereby provide information about the illegal arrest of Rosivaldo Ferreira da Silva, Cacique Babau, on March 10, 2010, and the torture suffered by Tupinambá indigenous people  Ailza Silva Barbosa, Alzenir Oliveira da  Silva, Calmerindo Batista da Silva, Mário Oliveira Barbosa, José Otávio de Freitas, on June 2, 2009, in the state of Bahia.


    Arrest and assault of Indian leader and human rights defender Cacique Babau in March of 2010
    In the early morning hours of March 10, 2010, five federal police, heavily armed, broke into and invaded the home of Rosivaldo Ferreira da Silva, Cacique Babau, in the Tupinambá community of Serra do Padeiro, state of Bahia. The arrest warrant was not presented by the police. According to his family, at the time of his arrest, Babau was violently assaulted and threatened with death. The police used extreme physical force to immobilize the Cacique who believed he was facing gunmen, because the agents were camouflaged, with their faces painted black, did not identify themselves and did not present an arrest warrant, in addition to voicing threats and curses. Several pieces of furniture in the house were broken. For the community, through the conduct of the police the impression that remained was the sense that they intended to take Babau without anyone knowing, in that they acted during the pre-dawn hours and after entering the house, closed the door.


    The action of the Federal Police occurred around 2:40 in the morning, though the agents only arrived with Babau at the police precinct of the municipality of Ilhéus between 6:30 and 7:00 in the morning. In his deposition, he said that the police had stopped for food at a place known as "Posto Flecha" and at another place, where there were trucks and deactivated winches to await sunrise and to be able to justify the arbitrary action they had conducted.

     
    On March 11, an anthropologist from the Ministério Público Federal visited Cacique Babau in the prison and said the leader was limping with his right eye swollen, experiencing pain in the hip and had not received medical attention. Despite this, the superintendent of the Federal Police in Bahia, José Maria Fonseca, said the Cacique would have had a forensic examination and no sign of torture or ill treatment in prison was indicated
    [1]. 

    On March 12, a committee formed by the undersecretary of promotion and defense of human rights, Perly Cipriano; the director for defense of human rights, Fernando Matos of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights of the Presidency of the Republic; state representatives Yulo Oiticica and Bira Coroa and a representative of the Secretary of Justice of the state of Bahia tried to visit Cacique Babau in the superintendencia of the Federal Police[2].  Arriving there, they were informed by the Regional Delegate José Maria Fonseca who had already been petitioned for new preventive arrest against the leader and stated: "He is not going to leave here"[3]. The group was prevented from visiting Cacique Babau. The Superintendent of the Federal Police of Bahia only authorized Perly Cipriano and Fernando Matos, SEDH / PR, to visit the leader[4].

     
    Givaldo Ferreira da Silva, brother of Babau, was arrested on March 20, by unidentified agents of the FP on a public thoroughfare.


    There are now eight police inquiries of the Federal Police of Ilhéus, in which Cacique Babau is being investigated
    [5]. The Ministério Público Federal and the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (FUNAI) filed for habeas corpus soliciting the immediate release of the leader. One of these was unknown by the 3rd Jurisdiction of the Federal Regional Tribunal (TRF) in the 1st  Region in 1.6 HC no. 0017707-64.2010.4.01.0000), which is the court that will judge all HCs. Two are at the point of being decided, that of no. 0014723-10.2010.4.01.000, authored by Funai – which is also convinced that the allegations incriminating Babau have no foundation to justify his arrest – and no. 0017705-94.2010 .4.01.0000 [6], authored by MPF / Bahia that also benefits Givaldo and the others. A fourth HC (0013864-91.2010.4.01.0000), also authored by MPF / BA is under analysis by the Regional Prosecutor of the Republic for an opinion.


    However, on April 20, one of the injunction petitions was denied and Babau remains detained in the maximum security unit of Mossoró-Pernambuco
    [7].

    Transfer of Cacique Babau to maximum security prison
    The Cacique Rosivaldo Ferreira da Silva ("Babau") and his brother, Givaldo Jesus da Silva, in preventive detention pending decision by federal judge Pedro Holliday, of Ilhéus, were transferred on April 16 to the federal penitentiary in Mossoró, Rio Grande do Norte. The Federal Police in Salvador, where both were being held, feared demonstrations against his incarceration, with protests against the continued imprisonment of Babau and Givaldo, requiring transfer, which was granted by the judge, despite the contrary opinion of the MPF/BA.

    The Federal Maximum Security Prison of Mossoró houses 83 inmates from other jails in the country, accused of narcotics trafficking, conspiracy, homicide and assault, among other crimes, and is more than two thousand kilometers from the Tupinambá Lands in the South of the state of Bahia. Babau and Givaldo are not condemned, but respondents in investigations triggered by complaints from farmers and others who oppose the demarcation of the Tupinambá territory. Even the Ministério Público Federal denies the imputation of the accusations against them – and other Tupinambá leaders – by the Federal Police, and have filed three habeas corpus to free them. FUNAI, in the habeas corpus filed on behalf of Babau, insists on compliance with the sole paragraph of Article 56 of Law No. 6.001/73, the Indian Statute, which allows for indigenous persons to remain at the disposition of the court at the Funai post closest to the indigenous land of origin.
    The transfer of these two important indigenous leaders of the country to a maximum security federal prison constitutes one more authoritarian action by the Federal Police and reinforces the conviction that such arrests are eminently political in nature, seeking the criminalization of defenders of human rights. The transfer of Babau and Givaldo occurred on the eve of April 19, the date on which the Day of the Indian is commemorated in Brazil, to clearly prevent any expression of support for the leaders and to humiliate the President of the Republic, who on that that date was to have been in Salvador, participating in the 12th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.


    Torture of five indigenous persons in May of 2009
    On May 26 of 2009, the Tupinambá people retook possession of their traditional territory, recognized by the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (FUNAI), situated on the Santa Rosa farm, illegal property of the farmer José Elias. On the day of the retaking, they found a body in an advanced state of decomposition, and immediately reported the fact to the Federal Police. Hours later, federal police and the owner of the farm arrived together at the site, determining that twelve of the indigenous persons were to be taken to the headquarters of the Federal Police to provide depositions. Being members of the community, they were primary suspects in the death
    [8]. 
    Upon arriving at the federal police station of Ilhéus, Fabio Araújo Marques, the officer responsible, threatened the indigenous group and told them never to return to the farm. As they did return, on May 30, 2009, the Federal Police and the proprietor returned to the area. At that time, federal agents arrived firing at the community and setting fire to the homes and personal belongings with the main objective of frightening the Tupinambá. After the departure of the police, the indigenous people returned to the headquarters of the village and remained in the abandoned installations that had not been burned
    [9].
    On day 2 of June, the Federal Police and the proprietor of the farm  returned together to the site and this time, police agents acted in a more aggressive manner, capturing and torturing five indigenous people who were unable to flee. They were: Ailza Silva Barbosa, Alzenir Oliveira da  Silva, Calmerindo Batista da Silva, Mário Oliveira Barbosa, José Otávio de Freitas.
    On that occasion, the police used pepper spray in the eyes of the indigenous persons captured, causing intense pain, according to the report compiled by the Federal Prosecutor of the Federal District, Dr. Luciana Loureiro. They also complained of severe back pain and burns caused by "taser guns", and by beatings while still taken prone and handcuffed. According to the depositions provided, all were kicked, punched, slapped, cursed, constantly threatened with death and three of them received [electrical] shocks to the genitals
    [10].


    At the Federal Police station of Ilhéus, the group remained handcuffed for more than nine hours
    [11]. On this occasion, once again officer Fábio Araújo Marques made threats regarding the return of indigenous people to the farm, even though this is Tupinambá territory.


    With respect to indigenous arrest and torture, Ailza Silva Barbosa reported that police threatened to cut her throat and hair with the knife they carried
    [12]. In the police headquarters, Ailza stated that a police woman, in order to humiliate her entered the bathroom with her and threatened to take her clothes showing her gun in the mirror pointed in her direction[13].
    After the illegal arrest and torture, the five indigenous persons were driven to the Civil Police in the town of Itabuna on 4 June, to register the crime, but the doctor only asked a few questions about what they were feeling, without so much as performing a clinical examination
    [14]. In Brasilia, the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the Federal District, under requisition by Federal Prosecutor Dr. Luciana Loureiro, conducted more detailed examinations and the results of the examinations confirmed the denunciations. The inquiry however, conducted by the same police chief who coordinated the action of the agents, concluded that there was no instance of torture. None of the agents was removed from duty during or after the investigations.

    Antecedents 
    The Tupinambá initiated the struggle for the constitutional right to their lands in 2000. Since then, they have led a series of retakings, both near the coastal town of Olivença, in southern Salvador, as in the interior of the state, in a mountainous region of old cocoa plantations. Some communities have settled on lands that were utilized, with support from local politicians and entrepreneurs, for illegal logging, which led to a series of confrontations with the Federal Police.
    In October of the year 2008, agents of the Federal Police who tried to stop the indigenous leader Rosival Ferreira da Silva, used excessive force against his family and other members of the Tupinambá community of Serra do Padeiro. His brother Jurandir was detained and beaten on October 23 of 2008 and the situation in the region, since then, is very tense.
    The Federal Police entered the village on 20 October of 2008 to inspect areas that were about to be the subject of an eviction order, which generated new conflicts in the region. According to police, the Tupinambá had ambushed them during the inspection, but the community maintains that the police fired at their members when they conducted officers to the center of the village. By the end of the confrontation, three community members had been injured by rubber bullets.


    The Federal Police reentered [the village] with a large contingent on the morning of 23 October of 2008. More than 100 police, in more than 30 vehicles and a helicopter surrounded the area, preparing to apprehend Babau, who they accused of preparing the "ambush". During the operation, the police used tear gas and injured more than a dozen Tupinambá. This violent attack by federal police caused a response of outrage in national society, including a campaign led by Amnesty International.
    In this action, denounced by the National Commission on Indigenous Policy, nobody has been held accountable for the excessive and unlawful acts, creating a climate of impunity in relation to abuses by authority of agents and delegates of the Federal Police. The representative of the Federal Police Department in meeting with the National Committe on Indigenous Policies (CNPI) late 2008 even mocked the report by the indigenous people. (Despite the change of the Superintendent of the Federal Police, after the meeting with parliamentarians and human rights entities with the Minister of Justice, the same officer continues to be active in the region, as well as the federal police agents involved the episode of the torture in June of 2009).


    The arrest of Babau, a leader who represents the circa 130 families living in the village of Serra do Padeiro (municipalities of Buerarema, Una and Olivença) occurred at a moment of significant tension.


    Babau is an important leader of the Tupinambá people, who have several other caciques. The exacerbation of violence against this people, like this arrest, has been ongoing since the publication of the identification report for and demarcation of the Tupinambá indigenous land, prepared by a technical working group constituted by the FUNAI, in compliance with the Federal Constitution, the Indian Statute and Decree 1775/96. Since then the Tupinambá have been the target of intense accusations, threats, attempted homicide, in addition to suffering an intense discriminatory campaign by the local political and  economic class, which historically invades and destroys the Tupinambá Land
    [15].

     
    Recommendations
    The grave violence in the countryside – especially that suffered by the indigenous people of Brazil – originates through the lack of accountability of public officials who violate rights; through the criminalization of leaders and through failure to implement the constitutional right to demarcation of indigenous territory, recognition of the value, of the dignity and of the rights internationally and constitutionally guaranteed to the indigenous peoples.
    Unfortunately attitudes like those of the Federal Police corroborate  the illegality proceeding from economic groups, squatters and the large scale landowners (latifundiários). Within its partiality, they fortify the criminalization of the leaders and peoples, and, consequently the perpetuation of violations.
    Given, therefore, the denunciations of torture and human rights violations committed by agents of the Brazilian State, CIMI and Global Justice are calling for adoption of the following recommendations to the Brazilian authorities: 


                a) Carry out a serious and effective investigation so that the agents of crimes of torture committed against Ailza Silva Barbosa, Alzenir Oliveira da Silva, Calmerindo Batista da Silva, Mário Oliveira Barbosa, José Otávio de Freitas can be prosecuted and held accountable by the Judiciary;
               

                b) Immediate granting of liberty for the defender of human rights  Cacique Babau – Rosivaldo Ferreira da Silva – and Givaldo Jesus da Silva, in light of the illegal arrest;


                c) Immediate guarantee of possession of territory to the Tupinambá people, as set forth in the Brazilian Federal Constitution, upon completion of the demarcation process with the competent organs and its protection;


                d) Guarantee of the physical invulnerability of the Tupinambá People;

                e) Continued training in Human Rights for police agents who deal with indigenous peoples and other ethnic minorities.

    We thank you in advance for the attention given to this communication and we make ourselves available to provide further clarification. Any information may be provided by the NGO Justiça Global by telephone +55 21 2544 23 20, fax +55 21 2524 84 35; or via email [email protected]

     

    Sincerely,
    Saulo Ferreira Feitosa / Eden Pereira José Magalhães
    Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI)

    Andressa Caldas / Sandra Carvalho / Luciana Silva Garcia / Tamara Melo / Renata Lira
    Global Justice



    [1]  "SEDH visited the jailed Cacique in the superintendence of the Federal Police in Bahia". Agência Brasil, 12 March, 2010. Available at em http://www.agenciabrasil.gov.br/web/ebc-agencia-brasil/pagina-inicial/-/journal_content/56/19523/170050

    [2]  Ibid

    [3]  Office of the President of the Republic. Special Secretary of Human Rights. Council for the Defense of Human Rights of the Human Person. Act of the 198th Ordinary Meeting of March 16 of 2010.

    [4]  Ibid

    [5]  Inquéritos Policies (Police Inquiries) n.º2.362/2008; 2-127/2005; 2-491/2007;  2-090/2008;  2-172/2009;  2-191/2009 ; 2-192/2009; 2-202/2009; 32/2010-2009, all Federal Police stations in Ilhéus, Bahia. For consultation, http://www.trf1.gov.br/Processos/ProcessosTRF/

    [6]  This HC is authored by the MPF/Bahia occurs in secret from the court, to benefit Babau and the four other Tupinambá leaders whose arrests were also ordered by the federal judge of Ilhéus/BA.

    [7]  The habeas corpus no. HC 0013864-91.2010.4.01.0000  was adjudicated on 20 April of 2004, by the Third Jurisdiction of the Federal regional Tribunal of the 1st region. For more information see: http://www.trf1.gov.br/Processos/ProcessosTRF/

    [8]  Statement provided to Federal Police on 08/06/2009 by Calmerindo Batista Da Silva, Ailza Silva Barbosa, Alzenir Oliveira da Silva.

    [9]  Ibid

    [10]  Statement provided on 08/06/2010 by Calmerindo Batista Da Silva, Ailza Silva Barbosa, Alzenir Oliveira da Silva, José Otávio de Freitas, Mário Oliveira Barbosa.

    [11]  Ibid

    [12]  Statement provided on 08/06/2009 Ailza Silva Barbosa

    [13]  Ibid

    [14]  Calmerindo Batista Da Silva, Ailza Silva Barbosa, Alzenir Oliveira da Silva, José Otávio de Freitas, Mário Oliveira Barbosa

    [15]  In Novemeber of 2009, an important magazine of national circulation, the Revista Época, published an article about the situation of the Tupinambá people and the actions of Cacique Babau, indirectly qualifying him as a dangerous and subversive leader. For the full article see:http://revistaepoca.globo.com/Revista/Epoca/0,,EMI105789-15223,00-O+LAMPIAO+TUPINAMBA.html

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