Amazonian Indigenous People Speak Out on Development Issues

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

9/1/97

OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE

Indigenous peoples from three Amazon countries recently convened a

meeting of tribal leaders to condemn large-scale development schemes

kicking off in the Amazon. Most notably, increased road construction

and logging plans. Calls for continued land demarcation of

traditional lands, and secure title for tribal peoples to their lands

were key demands. Following are three items from the international

media.

g.b.

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ITEM #1

Source: Reuters

Date: 8/30/97

Byline: MICHAEL CHRISTIE

Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive

Subject: AMAZON INDIANS DEMAND DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS

Date: 31 Aug 1997 21:11:58 GMT

BOA VISTA, Brazil (August 30, 1997 7:22 p.m. EDT) - Indians from three

Amazon countries on Saturday united in defense against major

international development projects they say threaten their lands and

their lives.

At the end of the first ever summit of indigenous leaders form Brazil,

Venezuela and Guyana, the Indians demanded their land rights be

recognized before the countries proceed with cross-border road and

electricity transmission projects.

"Our call is for demarcation and respect of indigenous land because

land is our life," said David James, president of Guyana's Amerindian

Peoples Association (APA).

The four-day meeting in Boa Vista, capital of Brazil's northernmost

state of Roraima, was called because of fears about the ecological and

social impacts of billion-dollar regional integration projects.

Spurred by economic stability, particularly in Brazil, the road and

energy plans seek to develop the backward region but also threaten to

destroy pristine rain forest.

Topping the list of concerns is a planned electricity line from

Venezuela's Guri dam to Boa Vista. It would pass through Venezuela's

Canaima national park and Brazil's Sao Marcos Indian reserve in

Roraima.

Similarly, Brazil and Venezuela are paving the BR-174 highway form

Brazil's Amazonian capital of Manaus to the Venezuelan capital

Caracas, affecting several Indian reserves. Finally, the planned

Linden-Lethem road from Manaus to Georgetown, Guyana, would pass near

at least three Indian communities.

"We demand land titles and demarcation before they proceed with any

development projects," said Jose Poyo, president of the Venezuelan

Indians Confederation, Conive.

"We are not against progress," added APA's James. "But we must

question who does it benefit? In most cases, not us. In fact our lives

become even more miserable."

During the meeting, Indian leaders from the three countries said they

found the problems they faced were similar.

In Brazil, Indian land rights are enshrined in the constitution but

have been weakened by a decree allowing non-Indians to challenge

Indian lands, according to rights groups. Most Indian lands must still

be demarcated.

In Guyana, Indians hold title to their land but have no rights to its

mineral wealth, allowing the government to auction off mining

concessions.

Activists in Boa Vista said Venezuela was a century behind in

recognizing Indian rights. Its laws seek to assimilate indigenous

people and any attempt to give them special status is seen as a threat

to the nation's territorial integrity.

"Though each county has a different story to tell, the same suffering

is taking place in Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana," said Geronimo

Pereira da Silva of the Indigenous Council of Roraima.

The summit in Boa Vista helped forge a common stance which Indian

leaders hoped would help in pressuring governments.

They produced a long list of demands in which they insisted on not

only being consulted about infrastructure projects and mining and

logging concessions but to be given the right of veto.

In particular, they insisted the social and environmental impact were

fully studied before projects were implemented.

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ITEM #2

Title: Yanomami Indians Appeal for Help Against Invaders

Source: Reuters

Date: 8/31/97

Byline: Michael ChristieBy Michael Christie

BOA VISTA, Brazil (Reuter) - The Yanomami Indian nation on Friday

appealed to the governments of Brazil and Venezuela to help expel

thousands of wildcat gold miners and clandestine logging firms from

their Amazonian reserve.

Speaking at the first "international summit" of Indian tribes from

Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana taking place in the Brazilian frontier

town of Boa Vista, Yanomami leaders said their lands and lives were

being destroyed.

"Our lands have been invaded by thousands of garimpeiros. At least

3,000 are illegally extracting gold on our lands," said Davi Kaponawa

Yanomami, from the Brazilian side of the tribe's reserve, which was

demarcated as Indian land in 1992.

"They bring many diseases and death," Kaponawa said, reading from a

manifesto Brazilian and Venezuelan Yanomami leaders aimed at Brasilia

and Caracas.

Garimpeiros, the Portuguese word describing freelance gold and diamond

miners, has also passed into common usage on the Spanish-speaking side

of the border as wildcatters spill into the Yanomami territory in

search of fortunes.

"There were 3,000 garimpeiros in May and then Funai (Brazil's National

Indian Foundation) ran out of money and couldn't count them anymore,"

said Claudia Andujar, whose photographs have made the 23,000-strong

Yanomami nation known around the world.

The Brazilian government for a year has been planning a major military

operation to clear the reserve of non-Indians. Although some $6

million has been authorized, the operation has floundered so far on

disagreements between the various arms of government involved.

Tense standoffs between bow and arrow-bearing Indians and armed

garimpeiros are frequent. In 1993, 16 Yanomami were massacred.

Jose Siripino Yanomami, from the Venezuelan reserve, said his

community was too far from the border to be affected but his village

was also concerned.

"These garimpeiros are causing harm to our people and we want the

govenments (of Brazil and Venezuela) to support the communities and

support the army which has to guard the border," he told the three-

nation Indian meeting in Boa Vista.

"If the garimpeiros are allowed in to cause damage, where would we

hunt? If they contaminate the river, and poison the fish, what water

will we drink?" he asked.

The meeting in the capital of Brazil's Amazon state of Roraima, was

called to discuss major international infrastructure projects, such as

roads and power lines, that threaten indigenous territories in the

three countries.

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ITEM #3

Title: Amazon Indians meet to protest rain forest destruction

Source: Associated Press

Date: 8/26/97

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) -- Nearly 100 indigenous leaders from Brazil,

Venezuela and Guyana will convene in Brazil's northeastern Roraima

state on Wednesday to protest development projects they claim are

threatening the rain forest -- and their own livelihoods.

Topping the discussion agenda for the four-day meeting are large-scale

logging projects, gold mining and super-highways that cut through

pristine tropical rain forest.

"The summit is an opportunity for indigenous organizations in the

region to advance joint proposals for defense of their territories and

for economic alternatives for their communities," said Atossa Soltani,

a spokeswoman for Amazon Watch, the non-governmental organization

coordinating the meeting.

Among projects listed for review are: the BR-174 superhighway that

cuts through the northern Amazon region in Brazil; the 350-kilometer

(220-mile) Georgetown-Brazil jungle road link; and Venezuela's mammoth

Guri hydroelectric plant, with the potential to supply power to

neighboring countries such as Guyana.

Indians in the affected countries claim the projects pose a threat to

the tropical jungle, where most of them live.

During a larger summit in May, indigenous leaders from nine Amazon

Basin countries warned such projects had already caused severe

environmental damage to the region, including polluting prime fishing

areas and devastating hunting grounds.

Guyana, a former British colony on South America's northeast shoulder,

is embroiled in land disputes with its 35,000 Amazon Indians over

efforts to open up more forest for commercial purposes. The country,

which has one of the world's largest

expanses of virgin rain forest, is increasingly being eyed by foreign

firms as a potential source of timber.

Guyana is also home to one of the South America's largest gold mines,

which provides a fourth of the country's gross domestic product. The

mine triggered fears among environmental groups after its holding dam

broke in July 1995, flooding a major river with cyanide-tainted water.

Soltani said Indian groups need the summit to spur awareness of the

effects of such projects on the world's dwindling rain forests.

Among those expected to address the summit are Ageu Flotencio da

Cunha, Brazil's attorney general, officials from the Washington-based

World Resources Institute, and the president of Venezuela's power

company.

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