Megaproject Against Brazilian Indians Suspended
7/1/97
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Subject: MEGAPROJECT AGAINST BRAZILIAN INDIA
Date: Tue, 01 Jul 1997
Newsletter n. 266
MEGAPROJECT AGAINST BRAZILIAN INDIANS WILL BE SUSPENDED
Unfortunately, businesspersons and the federal administration in
Brazil still think that economic development can only be ensured
through projects which harm the environment and indigenous peoples,
such as the Tapajos Roadway-Waterway megaproject, between the
municipalities of Alta Floresta, state of Mato Grosso, and
Jacareacanga, state of Para, covering a distance of 100 km through the
Munduruku Indigenous Area.
The Development, Production, and Consumption Cooperative of
Southeast Para (Codesup), presided over by Eutalio Bicudo Neto, has
already begun to build the roadway, while the Ministry of
Transportation and the state of Para were assigned to build the
waterway. However, state attorney Felicio Pontes Junior, from the
Office of the Attorney General in Santarem, state of Para, denounced
irregularities in the two projects. He assures that the
roadway-waterway will destroy the Tapajos river and seriously affect
the living conditions of over 5,500 Munduruku Indians who live in the
Alto Tapajos region.
Provided with documents which confirm that the roadway project is
illegal, the state attorney issued an order yesterday for Ibama
(Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Natural Resources)
to suspend the works immediately. According to him, officials of his
office will be visiting the area tomorrow to make sure that his
determination will be complied with. The Public Prosecution Service in
Santarem has gathered enough evidence to file a civil action or a writ
of prevention against the megaproject.
While, on the one hand, the Brazilian government is determined to
implement large projects, it has not, on the other hand, taken timely
measures to demarcate indigenous areas. The Munduruku are still
fighting for the demarcation of their land, in relation to which the
National Indian Foundation has done nothing since 1994.
COMMITTEE RATIFIES FUND FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
On the 18th of this month, the External Relations Committee of the
Chamber of Deputies ratified the Agreement on the Development Fund for
Indigenous Peoples in America and the Caribbean. The Agreement will
still be discussed in plenary sessions of the Chamber of Deputies and
Senate. It was signed by the Brazilian Government in 1992 in Madrid,
and is intended to establish a mechanism in support of the autonomous
development of indigenous peoples, communities, and organizations.
Deputy Joana D'Arc, of the Workers' Party, said in her opinion on
the agreement that "indigenous groups continue to suffer cultural,
social, political, and racial prejudice and repeated dissimulated or
overt attempts to exterminate of integrate them into the non-Indian
society by force."
Indigenous peoples have been requesting support to both national
and international government and nongovernment agencies in their
attempts to ensure the integrity of their territories and implement
projects in different areas. The agreement is aimed at meeting that
demand, as "an effort to ensure international cooperation arrangements
to support and further the development of indigenous peoples with
their active participation," in the words of the deputy.
The Indigenous Fund, which is headquartered in Bolivia, will be
receiving contributions from member States and other States and
multilateral and national public and private organizations. Let us see
whether the Brazilian government will truly respect the autonomy of
indigenous peoples or will use the agreement as a means to promote
deceitful propaganda.
Brasilia, 26 June 1997
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi