President Meets with Landless Movement and Releases Funds
7/16/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: President Meets with Landless Movement and Releases Funds
Source: SEJUP, Servigo Brasileiro de Justiga e Paz
http://www.oneworld.org/sejup/
Status: Distribute freely with credit given to source
Date: July 16, 1999
In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- President meets with landless movement and releases funds
- Music helping to change lives in juvenile prisons
- 13,000 youths in prison unlawfully [DELETED]
- NGO's use appropriate technology to alleviate drought
effects in Northeast
- Six police accused of torture are imprisoned in
Alagoas [DELETED]
- UN "lowers" Brazil's quality of life ranking and
criticizes globalization
- Ford "laments" political turmoil over factory plant
NEWS BRIEFS
- President meets with landless movement and releases funds
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso began to dialogue again with leaders
of the MST (Movement of rural workers Without Land) and announced that he would
release R$680 million earmarked for agrarian reform. The release of the funds
was one of the principal demands of the MST. Gilmar Mauro, one of the national
leaders of the movement remained skeptical: "The President said that he was
going to meet our demand, but dialogue is made of conversation and action. The
path to hell is paved with good intentions." One of the president's ministers,
Raul Jungmann, said that the president is still concerned about the movement,
fearing rumors about the infiltration of guerillas from movements such as the
Shining Path from Peru. "The president said he will repress (the movement)
harshly and if necessary, release the hand of the Law of National Security,"
said Jungmann.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
July 9, 1999
- NGO's use appropriate technology to alleviate drought effects in Northeast
Brazil has the biggest semi-arid population in the world. It is
considered to be one of the less technically advanced countries in terms of its
ability to provided water for human and agricultural consumption. But NGO's
(Non-Governmental Organizations) are working to change this through very simple
and inexpensive technology. At the 9th International Conference for Systems for
Rainwater Collection held in Pernambuco, representatives from all over the world
met to discuss water problems and solutions for arid areas. Among the most
successful methods are cisterns and small underground dams. A cistern, which
costs US$175, is placed on the top of a house and collects water during the
rainy season. It can provide a family of six with enough water for eight
months. The underground dam can take care of 2 hectares of land during a
growing season.
"The cistern was my retirement and guarantee that I won't have to
drink muddy water any more. During last year's drought, I drank
mud," said Edite Ribeiro dos Passos, a Northeastern who used to walk 9 km every
day to get his 35 liters of water.
Another farmer, Valdir Joco da Silva, said that he has not had to buy rice for
two years. Thanks to his underground dam, he is able to grow his own, even
during a drought. "The use of cisterns and small dams is proof that drought
conditions can be alleviated, and that the sertco' (Brazil's arid region) can
guarantee livelihood to its inhabitants," said Unicef's Jacques Schwarzstein.
Source: Folha de Sco Paulo
July 12, 1999
- UN "lowers" Brazil's quality of life ranking and criticizes globalization
A UN report revealed that the quality of life in Brazil
improved between 1995 and 1997. However, when the country was
reclassified recently by the UN, it no longer fell into the group of countries
with high human development. It returned to the list of countries with medium
human development where it was in 1995. The UN Development Program's 1999
report made several criticisms of globalization and referred to the differences
in income and quality of life in the world as "grotesque." The UN also
suggested a series of measures to correct the distortions.
Brazil is ranked 79th among 174 countries in terms of human
development.
The change in methodology in the calculating income in the Human Development
Index - HDI - was what provoked the return of Brazil to its previous ranking.
According to the UN the modification is an improvement. The HDI is calculated
using the following indicators: education (literacy and level of schooling),
health (life expectancy), and income (GNP). The Brazilian government criticized
the change in criteria, because it was not advised in advance. Walter Franco, a
UN representative, criticized the concentration of wealth in Brazil as heavily
influencing Brazil's ranking in the this year's Human Development Report.
"Although education and health indicators have improved, there was no advance in
the distribution of wealth," said Franco. Roberto Martins of the Institute of
Applied Economics Research, said "the concentration of wealth has been the worst
in the world for decades. Brazil has wealth to eliminate poverty, yet the
inequality is not decreasing."