Raposa Serra do Sol Situation Worsens
6/29/99
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Raposa Serra do Sol Situation Worsens
Source: Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment
Status: Distribute freely with credit given to source
Date: June 29, 1999
The situation described below is very serious. Please write to
president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, the president of FUNAI and the
Minister of Justice and express your views.
It will be a major set-back to the struggle for indigenous land
rights in Brazil if the Raposa Serra do Sol territory is broken up
with sections carved out for the invaders. It will be a clear signal
that indigenous lands are up for grabs and that if you can occupy a
piece of land then it will not be recognized as indigenous land.
This will lead to much violence, suffering, and destruction of
rainforest and possibly even genocide. It will affect the entire
Brazilian Amazon, not just this one territory.
Please send a copy of your letters to us at urgent@amanakaa.org or at
the postal address below.
Sr. Presidente da Republica
Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Pal cio do Planalto
Brasilˇa - DF - 70.160.900
BRAZIL
pr@planalto.gov.br
fax: 011-55-061 411-2222
+++
Sr. Ministro da Justica
Renan Calheiros
Esplanada dos Ministerios - Bloco T
Brasilˇa - DF - 70.064.900
BRAZIL
acs@mj.gov.br
Fax: 061 3226817
+++
Sr. Marcio Lacerda
President of FUNAI
SEP Quadra 702 Sul
Ed. Lex, Bl. A, 3§ andar
70390-025
Brasˇlia DF
Fax: 011-55-61-226-8782
----------------- Begin Forwarded Message ----------------- Indianist
Missionary Council - Cimi
Newsletter no 366
SPIRITS INCITED IN RORAIMA DUE TO RAPOSA/SERRA DO SOL
The news of the repeal of Decree no. 820/98, which declares the
Raposa/Serra do Sol Indigenous Territory as a complete area, provokes
new uproar in Roraima. Incensed by a notice distributed by the
Conselho Indˇgena de Roraima (CIR) which holds the federal government
responsible for possible conflicts that can occur, the state
representatives began to issue threats of imprisonment and
intimidation to the sectors that support the demarcation of the
Raposa/Serra do Sol area. In a notice sent out on June 19, CIR
revealed that it has a cassette tape recording where the Minister of
Justice, Renan Calheiros, assures the indigenous leaders that "there
is no hypothesis for the repeal of the Decree". Two days later,
however, in the electoral program of the Progressista Brasileiro
Party (PPB), of the Governor Neudo Campos, shown on a local TV
network, the Minister himself declared that he would change the
decree to "assure the rights of land holders in controverted areas:
county seats, five towns, farms, rice plantations and roads" that
invade the Raposa/Serra do Sol Area. The Minister's declarations stir
up violence in the state and place the lives of indigenous peoples at
risk.
The local press covered the Legislative Assembly session, where the
state representatives used the platform to seek the imprisonment of
the Coordinator of CIR, Jer"nimo Pereira, under the accusation of
setting the indigenous peoples against the population of Roraima. The
heated speeches also included the Funai administrator of Roraima,
Walter Bl˘s, considered by the politicians as a subversive, persona
non grata in the state. The State Congressman Gelb Pereira (PDT)
affirmed to the local press that Bl˘s should be banished from
Roraima: literally "kicked out". CIR ensures that the indigenous
communities will not accept the reduction of the area, a demarcation
in blocks or in "islands" as intended by the anti-indigenous sectors.
The organization states that "the majority of the squatters who had
already vacated the area can return by order of the government
itself, an act which can cause confrontations of incalculable
proportions.
The Conselho de Articula‡ao dos Povos e Organiza‡oes Indˇgenas do
Brasil (Capoib) sent letters to the President of Brazil and to the
Minister of Justice among other authorities, in which they state that
the aggressions by the politicians of Roraima against the indigenous
peoples are racist and offensive. They warn that "the hatred nurtured
by the farmers and miners, invaders of indigenous territories, is
being passed along to the population through the politicians, the
Mayor of Boa Vista and the Governor of the State". The Capoib seeks
urgent measures for the security of the indigenous peoples affected
and demands for the immediate ratification of the Raposa/Serra do Sol
Indigenous Area, in accordance with Decree no. 820/98.
KARITIANA AND SURUI INDIGENOUS PEOPLES WANT COMPENSATION FOR THEFT OF
DNA
The Karitiana and Suruˇ indigenous peoples are getting in touch with
the Coordena‡ao da Uniao das Na‡oes e Povos Indˇgenas de Rond"nia,
Noroeste do Mato Grosso e Sul do Amazonas (Cunpir) to discuss
requests for compensation against the laboratory Kidd Lab, from Yale
University, in the United States, for the marketing of the genetic
code of these peoples. The indigenous organization accessed the
Internet page where the laboratory offers the DNA collected from 15
indigenous groups from various parts of the world, Brazil included.
The Suruˇ and Karitiana claim that they were deceived. The State
Attorney General has been informed of the fact and is investigating
the accusation.
Brasilia, June 23, 1999.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi
*******************Distribuido por: Distributed by:
Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment
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Disclaimer: All copyrights belong to original publisher.
The Amazon Coalition has not verified the accuracy of the forwarded
message. Forwarding this message does not necessarily connote
agreement with the positions stated there-in.
Todos los derechos de autor pertenecen al autor originario.
La Coalicion Amazonica no se ha verificado la veracidad de este
mensaje. Mandar este mensaje no necesariamente significa que la
Coalicion Amazonica esta de acuerdo con el contenido.
La Coalicion para los Pueblos Amazonicos y su Medio Ambiente es una
iniciativa, nacida de la alianza entre los pueblos indigenas y
tradicionales de la Amazonia, grupos e individuos que comparten sus
preocupaciones por el futuro de la Amazonia y sus pueblos. Las
ochenta organizaciones no-gubernamentales del norte y del sur activas
en la Coalicion creen que el futuro de la Amazonia depende de sus
pueblos indigenas y tradicionales y el estado de su medio ambiente.
The Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and Their Environment is an
initiative born out of the alliance between indigenous and
traditional peoples of the Amazon and groups and individuals who
share their concerns for the future of the Amazon and its peoples.
The eighty non-governmental organizations from the North and the
South active in the Coalition believe that the future of the Amazon
depends on its indigenous and traditional peoples and the state of
their environment.