| Information |  | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
| ||
| Information | | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
| ||
04Jun13
Brazil calls in army to defuse conflicts over Indian lands
President Dilma Rousseff's government said on Tuesday it would send 110 federal troops to the Brazilian farm state of Mato Grosso do Sul to try to prevent more violence between Indians claiming their ancestral territory and ranchers.
The government has been struggling to defuse tensions with indigenous tribes over farmland in several states as well as over hydroelectric dams in the Amazon.
Tensions escalated in a disputed property in Mato Grosso do Sul that was invaded last week for a second time by Terena Indians angered by the fatal shooting of one of their tribe's members. Local media said the man's cousin was shot and injured on a nearby ranch on Tuesday.
"We must avoid radicalizing a situation that goes back a long way in Brazilian history," Justice Minister Jose Cardozo told reporters after meeting lawmakers from Mato Grosso do Sul in Brasilia.
"We're not going to put out the flames by throwing alcohol on the bonfire," he said.
However, protests have now erupted across the country.
In Rio Grande do Sul state, about 2,000 Kaingang and Guarani Indians were blocking roads to protest the government's decision to put on hold the granting of ancestral lands to indigenous communities, a concession to Brazil's powerful farm lobby.
"The government has abandoned us. Dilma isn't supporting indigenous peoples," Indian chief Deoclides de Paula said by telephone from a blocked highway.
In Curitiba, the Parana state capital, 30 Kaingang Indians invaded the offices of the ruling Workers' Party on Monday and only agreed to leave 10 hours later when they were promised a meeting with Rousseff's chief of staff, Gleisi Hoffmann.
Hoffmann, who will run for governor of Parana next year, said last month that the role of the government's Indian affairs office, Funai, in land decisions would be restricted.
Cardozo, however, stressed on Tuesday that Funai would not be gutted and would continue to play a central role as the main institution that defends Indian rights, though others will be brought in to improve the process of deciding ancestral lands.
Fields burn after Indian death
The government has been scrambling to avert violence since a 35-year-old Indian man was shot dead last week when police evicted 200 Terena from the disputed cattle ranch of a former congressman.
Angry Terena Indians armed with sticks, bows and arrows reoccupied the property on Friday and set fire to fields and blocked roads on Tuesday.
Late on Monday, a local judge extended for 36 hours the eviction order, allowing more time for a peaceful resolution.
Brazil's indigenous land policy, established in the country's constitution, is considered one of the most progressive in the world, with about 13 percent of the huge South American nation's territory already set aside for Indians.
Farmers say Funai is trying to create reservations on land that has belonged to European-descended settlers for 150 years.
In another move to ease tensions with Brazil's indigenous population, one of Rousseff's ministers, Gilberto Carvalho, met in Brasilia with Munduruku Indians flown in on air force planes from the Tapajos, the only major river in the Amazon basin with no dams.
They want the government to shelve plans to build a dozen dams there, while the government hopes to finish work on the controversial Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River, a huge project aimed at feeding Brazil's fast-growing demand for electricity.
Last week Indians paralyzed work at one of three building sites at Belo Monte, which is slated to become the world's third-largest dam, capable of producing 11,233 megawatts of electricity - equivalent to about 10 percent of Brazil's total current generating capacity.
Belo Monte is a pet project of Rousseff, but has become the target of international criticism by environmental groups. It has also become a stage for Indians from other parts of the Amazon.
"We went to see for ourselves what a hydroelectric dam is and we saw that it has nothing good in store for us," a Munduruku leader told Carvalho, adding that promised development had not benefited the Indians of the Xingu. "We saw Indians being humiliated and we do not want that for our region."
[Source: By Anthony Boadle and Caroline Stauffer, Reuters, Brasil and Sao Paulo, 04Jun13]
 | This document has been published on 11Oct13 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. |