e Paz

Number 210, December 21, 1995.

1995 IN RETROSPECTIVE

- Another year without agrarian reform.

During 1995, perhaps the topic which received most attention

in NEWS FROM BRAZIL was land issues. On December 20, the Forum

for Agrarian Reform and Rural Justice issued a document which

evaluated the evolution of the land question during the last

year. The Forum is composed of organizations which have long

experience of the rural question - CONTAG, MST, CUT, CPT and

CIMI. We decided to translate the document in its entirety

because it is in our opinion a very good summary of the state of

this question in present day Brazil.

1995: Another Year Without Agrarian Reform

Fernando Henrique Cardoso assumed the government bringing

with him a campaign promise to settle 280 thousand families. This

promise however has not become viable because of the source of

political support for the government - the alliance principally

with the conservative PFL, PTB and PMDB parties.

The very setting up of the federal administration showed

that the political option of Fernando Henrique Cardoso leaned in

another direction. The nomination as Minister of Agriculture and

as president of INCRA (the government land agency) of people

clearly identified with the rural oligarchies indicated that the

emphasis of the government would not favor the democratization of

land but would, quite to the contrary, favor the present land

ownership structure which concentrates and excludes. This was

also reflected in the lack of a strategy for the development of

agriculture, especially the family model of agriculture. The

entire action of the government in the area of agriculture during

this year can be resumed as negotiating and re-negotiating the

debts of the large property owners.

Thus, during the first semester of 1995 no important

government action was taken to carry out an agrarian reform. The

rural crisis however continued to grow worse. Signs of this were

the massive mobilizations of various rural segments until July

when at the Brazil Cry of the Land (Grito da Terra Brasil) and

the congresses of CONTAG (Association of Rural Trade Unions) and

the MST (Movement of Landless Rural Families) small and medium

sized property owners as well as landless rural workers demanded

that the government fulfill its election promises. In spite of

official speeches made in answer to the demands of the workers,

nothing concrete was done.

The massacre of the landless in Corumbiara, State of

Rondonia in the month of August served to show the true nature

of the unjust agrarian model; a model which has never been touch

and is so prevalent to this day in Brazil. Corumbiara served as a

symbol of the continuation of social exclusion and of the growing

violence in rural Brazil. It showed up clearly the brutality of

the ranchers, the complicity of the legal powers and the use of

the military police in their favor.

In the same way as he showed his political option on the

agrarian question in general, Fernando Henrique Cardoso showed

his option specifically on the indigenous question. Attending to

pressures from dominant rural sectors, the government spent the

year announcing that it would change in favor of the invaders

Decree 22/91 which determines how indigenous areas should be

demarcated. By the end of the year the decree was not changed nor

had the government demarcated a single indigenous area. On the

contrary four demarcation processes of the former government were

halted because of pressure from the invaders.

With so many significant happenings connected to the land

question, systematic pressure from the workers through

occupations, manifestations of Brazilian society and of sectors

of the international community forced the government to remake

its election promise to settle 40 thousand families this year.

A first practical result was the nomination of Francisco

Graziano to the presidency of INCRA. Since he was a person who

enjoyed the entire confidence of Fernando Henrique Cardoso this

meant that the agency was now in fact linked to the Presidency.

This had been a long-standing demand of rural grass-roots

movements and it provoked as well a political loss for the

Ministry of Agriculture.

The question of agrarian reform now became a preoccupation

for many sectors of society, especially urban sectors because of

the coverage given by the press to the occupations and

expulsions. A public act known as the "Memorial of Agrarian

Reform" (Memorial da Reforma Agraria) was organized by political

parties as well as by trade unions and grass-roots movements from

which was given to the Three Powers of the Republic the demands

and proposals of rural workers for the implementation of an

agrarian reform.

The increase in the articulation of sectors of society led

to the creation of the Forum for Agrarian Reform and for Rural

Justice which today is where most of the discussion and demands

to the government for the carrying out of an agrarian reform

takes place.

Disrespecting the increasing support of society, the anti reform sectors became active once again mobilizing them in the

National Conference of Agriculture (CNA), the Brazilian Rural

Society (SRB) and the National Stock-breeders Trade Union

(SINDIPEC). On the part of the political parties the chief

resistance came from the PTB and PFL. Both have a strong group in

the government and force the conservative line of this

government.

The SIVAM episode which resulted in the resignation of the

former president of INCRA, Francisco Graziano, had much more to

do with pressure from conservative sectors which support the

government than with the episode itself of phone tapping which

has not yet been investigated. The immediate acceptance of

Graziano's resignation and the delay in the permanent appointment

of a person who is on the side of the rural workers shows that

the option of the President of the Republic is not to give

priority to agrarian reform. The appointment of the new president

of INCRA has once again entered the national agenda as the

principal topic in the agrarian area. The fall of Graziano then

represents a reversal for agrarian reform and a victory for the

conservative sectors who ensured the lack of success of the

government who under pressure attempted to do something about its

failure of its social policy.

The Judicial System.

The judicial system followed its usual trend of being always

at the service of the oligarchies. Its immediate answers were

against agrarian reform thus making a crime out of the struggle

for land as was the case of the imprisonments of Diolinda Alves

de Souza and Marcio Barreto in Sao Paulo and of Father Anastacio

Ribeiro of the Land Pastoral Commission (CPT) of Paraiba. The

same allegations were used in all cases: gang formation, leading

invasions and the mistreatment of children.

The issuing of court orders, many of them without any

juridical or factual basis on the question of right to ownership

have become the rule. Almost always, such orders have been the

cause of violence against the workers because of the action of

the police who help to carry them out. An example is the

expulsion of the families from the Santa Elina ranch in

Corumbiara, State of Rondonia.

In the same way the completion of court actions of

disappropriation have been very slow as well as decisions

containing legal interpretations; the later also slows up such

actions.

Violence.

Rural violence has continued at a high level. During this

year, only two cases of people accused of the death of rural

workers were brought to judgment; all were condemned.

The expulsions, assassinations, threats, illegal and arbitrary imprisonments, amongst other forms of violence

continue. They are the principal result of government omission

and impunity. Until this present date (December 20, 1995) the

assassination of 39 rural workers were registered. On December 16

last 5 people were assassinated in a conflict between hired gun-

men and rural workers in the Projeto Colone, State of Maranhao as

well as Workers' Party (PT) town councilor, Manoel Ribeira from

Corumbiara, Sate of Rondonia. 9 indigenous people have been

assassinated during the course of the year; we cannot forget as

well the terrible reality of 53 indigenous suicides during the

same period.

It is clear to the entities which make up the Forum for

Agrarian Reform and for Rural Justice that agrarian reform is not

part of the strategy of Fernando Henrique Cardoso's government

but only a political and compensatory gesture used to lessen

social tensions; this tactic is also used by those who defend the

neo-liberal strategy of globalization.

Any action on the part of the government will only come

about as a result of the mobilization and social pressure of the

grass-roots movements. The struggle for agrarian reform, centered

in such mass movements should link up with other struggles of

workers for employment, adequate salaries, credit, social

services, just prices, health, education, housing etc.

In this way the Forum for Agrarian Reform and Rural Justice

renews its intentions to strengthen and to articulate these

struggles. In this its chief objective is to achieve land

democracy as well as democracy in Brazilian society in general.

Brasilia - Federal District, December 20, 1995.

The Articulation Commission of the Forum for Agrarian Reform and

Rural Justice.

CONTAG - MST - CUT - CPT - CIMI

LAND ISSUES

- Violence continues in Corumbiara, Rondonia.

Corumbiara became known internationally in early August when

the military police massacred at least 10 landless workers (see

NEWS FROM BRAZIL of August 10, 17 and 24). An indication that the

violence continues there is the assassination of town councilor,

Manoel Ribeiro (known locally as Nelinho) on Saturday December

16. Nelinho was a member of the Workers' Party (PT) and had

recently announced that he would be a candidate for mayor in next

year's municipal elections.

According to newspaper reports, Nelinho had received

numerous threats from local ranchers because he had led a

campaign to have those responsible for the August 09 massacre

punished. Local human rights organizations strongly suspect that

the ranchers were responsible for the assassination. Nelinho was

assassinated as he arrived at his own house with his girl-friend

Sirlene.

The national president of PT, Jose Dirceu, commenting on the

crime said "This crime is unbelievable, intolerable. Jobim (the

Minister for Justice) did not ensure the disarmament of the

region as he had promised. The Minister for Justice and the

Federal Police need to wake up, because up to the present moment

those responsible for the massacre in Corumbiara were not

punished". Federal Deputy Jose Genoino also of the PT of Sao

Paulo commented that President Cardoso is not taking sufficiently

energetic measures to defend human rights in Brazil. "The

President does not deny internationally that human rights are

transgressed in Brazil. But what has he done to resolve this

problem?" commented Deputy Genoino. He further commented that

since Francisco Graziano left the presidency of INCRA (the

government land agency) agrarian reform is totally paralyzed.

The Interamerican Commission for Human Rights decided on

December 19 to bring a case against the Brazilian government

because of the August massacre. Last week we reported that the

Commission also brought a case against Brazil because it has not

provided information to relatives about the circumstances of the

deaths of political prisoners during the years of military

repression (1964-85).

- 5 die in land conflict in State of Maranhao.

On Saturday December 16 five people died and at least three

were seriously injured in a land conflict in the municipality of

Carutapera, State of Maranhao. According to the first reports

from the area, the deaths occurred when local residents tried to

impede the entrance into the area of work-men sent by rancher

Manoel Castro Bordalo. The rancher planned to remove timber from

the area and claims that he is owner even though approximately

500 families live there.

VIOLENCE

- Murder cases reach an all time high in the Greater Sao

Paulo area.

The number of murder cases registered in the Greater Sao

Paulo area amounted to 6710 cases by the end of November last

according to a report in the "Folha de Sao Paulo" on December 16.

The total number of murders during all of 1994 amounted to 6697.

If the trend continues, an estimated 7320 people will have been

murdered in the urban area by December 31 or an increase of 11.2%

on 1994 figures.

Taking figures of ten years ago (1984) it is easy to see how

violence has increased. In 1984, 3516 people were assassinated in

the Greater Sao Paulo area. Thus the 1995 figure has increased by

over 100% when compared to that year. In 1984 there was one

murder per 4323 residents in the area. A murder was committed

every two hours and thirty minutes. In 1995 there was one murder

per 2229 residents and a murder took place on average every hour

and twenty minutes.

According to data of the Secretariat for Public Security the

most violent areas in Greater Sao Paulo are found in the southern

and eastern regions of the urban area as well as in Sao Bernardo

do Campo and Santo Andre. During November 1995, 590 murders were

recorded. One of the police stations in Santo Andre recorded 23

murders during November. April was the most violent month so far

this year with 705 recorded murders. The most violent week-end

was that of June 24 and 25 when 64 murders were reported.

The State Secretary for Public Security, Jose Afonso Silva,

attributes the increase in the number of murders to the

dissemination of crack and the increasing poverty and

unemployment in the affected areas. Of the 46 cases of mass

murder recorded so far this year, a third of this number was

provoked by disputes between drug traffickers.

Other statistics also show how violence is on the increase

in the area. During the first eleven months of 1995 the number of

cases of robbery recorded was up 3.8% on the same period of last

year - from 62640 cases in 1994 to 65027 cases in 1995. Again

when such statistics are compared to 1984 numbers an increase of

20.3% emerges. The number of people carrying arms has increased

significantly during recent years. During 1994, the 44 stores

authorized to sell arms in the city of Sao Paulo sold 50 thousand

guns which had been manufactured in Brazil according to a report

in the "Estado de Sao Paulo" on December 18. It is impossible to

calculate the number of arms which were smuggled into Sao Paulo

from such places as Paraguay, Argentina and the U.S. during the

same period.

Meanwhile a story which captured the headlines during the

last week was that of eleven supporters of the Santos team who

traveled from Sao Paulo to Rio de Janeiro in two vehicles to

attend a match between their team and Botafogo. As they were

leaving Rio during the early hours of December 14 they lost there

way and by mistake entered the Vila do Joao shanty-town. Local

drug traffickers thinking that they were from a rival group in

another shanty-town opened fire on them. One of the group,

Ronaldo Ferreira Mattos, died from bullet wounds. Another member

of the group commented that there were somewhere between 35 and

40 people, mostly adolescents, firing on them. Commenting on the

incident, the State Secretary for Public Security of Rio de

Janeiro, General Nilton Cerqueira, said that Rio is an area of

guerrilla warfare.

ECOLOGY

- Fears that dam may now be constructed.

Over the last two years or so we have reported at regular

intervals about the efforts of ecology groups to hinder the

erection four dams on the River Ribeira de Iguape. The river

rises in the State of Parana and enters the Atlantic at Iguape,

Sate of Sao Paulo. If any or all of these dams are constructed

huge social and ecological damages will result. In the March 23,

1995 issue of NEWS FROM BRAZIL we made an urgent action appeal

requesting that messages be sent to judges in the Regional

Federal Tribunal in Sao Paulo asking that they judge against the

construction of the first dam which was planned for Tijuco Alto.

Due in large part to the response of many individuals and

organizations the judges forbade the construction of the dam (see

NEWS FROM BRAZIL April 05).

Unfortunately in Brazil, money frequently speaks louder than

the judicial system. Ecological organizations inform us that one

of the large groups interested in the construction of the Tijuco

Alto dam organized a rally in support of its construction in the

town of Ribeira (Sao Paulo) on December 18. A few days

previously, state deputies in Parana voted in favor of the

construction of the dams even though the federal court decision

ruled against this. Following we have a comment on the vote of

the deputies prepared by the Rede Verde de Informacoes Ambientais

and translated by the International Rivers Network.

STATE DEPUTIES AUTHORIZE HYDROELECTRIC PROJECT HALTED BY THE

COURTS

State deputies from Parana, Brazil did not understand the

spirit of the state constitution, which requires, in article 209,

approval of the Legislative Assembly for construction of dams in

the state.

The Forum of Environmental Groups of the Curitiba

Metropolitan Region believes that the consultation with the

Assembly should have as its objective the protection of the

natural wealth of the state, but the deputies ignored

environmental questions in granting, yesterday, in special

session, authorization for the construction of the Tijuco Alto

Hydroelectric Dam, of the Votorantim industrial group on the Rio

Ribeira de Iguape.

uninformed on the serious environmental problems which could be

caused by the project, which was not discussed before the

approval of the resolution authorizing the project.

Environmentalists recalled that the project was suspended by the

Federal Courts, in both Sao Paulo and Parana states, and that

there is an opinion from the Commission on the Constitution and

Justice of the Assembly itself, which considers the project

unconstitutional.

The licensing process for Tijuco Alto Dam has been contested

for years by environmental organizations, who pointed to

irregularities in the project since an environmental impact

statement was first presented in 1990. Among their arguments

were:

1. The Ribeira River is the principal river of the Atlantic

Coast forest and runs through a well-conserved stretch of the

forest, considered the third most threatened rainforest on the

planet.

2. The Ribeira River is the source of Lagamar, an ecosystem of

complex and very varied composition, identified as the cradle of

the south Atlantic, with an enormous number of marine species in

their initial phase of life;

3. The importance of the area cut by the Ribeira River was

recognized not only by the state and federal governments

(Lauraces Park and the National Park of Superagui, and and

federal reserves of Guaraquecaba, etc., as well as by UNESCO,

which classified the area as a Biosphere Reserve.

4. The Tijuco Alto dam will flood caves and areas of Atlantic

coast rain forest, known as a national heritage.

5. The environmental impact study for the Tijuco Alto dam looks

only at a small stretch of the river, without considering the

broader risks of intervention.

6. There are not sufficient studies to evaluate the consequences

of alterations in the river course on the Lagamar ecosystem.

7. Tijuco Alto Dam would be built by the Votorantim Group to

supply energy exclusively for the factory of the Brazilian

Aluminum Company (CBA) in Mairinque, Sao Paulo;

8. The energy generated by Tijuco Alto will not be sufficient to

supply the demand of the project to increase CBA's production in

Mairinque, and it will open the way for construction of three

additional dams already projected by CESP (Sao Paulo state energy

company) for the same river.

9. The Ribeira valley and Lagamar are poor regions, where

solutions for development require non-conventional measures, due

to regional characteristics.

As the dam's reservoir will require relocating about 1000

families, the project also is meeting resistance on the part of

the Dam Victims Movement (MOAB), which has carried out protests

against the project. The opposition to the project has firm

support from the Sao Paulo state government, which has publicly

gone on record against the dam's construction.

The Forum of Environmental Groups from the Metropolitan

Region of Curitiba calls on the state government of Parana to

take a definitive position on this matter, assuring protection

of Parana's natural heritage.

Teresa Urban

<> REDE VERDE DE INFORMACOES AMBIENTAIS

<> R. Brigadeiro Franco, 549

<> CURITIBA-PR - BRAZIL

<> CEP 80.430-210

<> FAX/FONE: 55.41.222.9740

<> E-Mail: redeverde@ax.apc.org

or: Glenn Switkes, International Rivers Network

tel: 510-848-1155

fax: 510-848-1008

email: glenirn@igc.apc.org

- Work on the international waterway due to start next

month.

We bring you a press release from the International Rivers

Network with recent information on the proposed construction of

the Paraguay-Parana Waterway.

PRESS RELEASE

Thursday, December 14, 1995

Contact:

Glenn Switkes

Latin America Program Director

International Rivers Network

tel: +510 848-1155

fax: +510 848-1008

email: glenirn@igc.apc.org

GOVERNMENTS ALLOW PUBLIC A ROLE IN STUDIES FOR SOUTH AMERICAN

WATERWAY, BUT SAY CONSTRUCTION SET TO BEGIN

(Punta del Este, Uruguay) South American governments

promoting the Paraguay-Parana Hidrovia industrial waterway have

agreed to open to public scrutiny the feasibility studies for the

controversial project. However, government officials insist that

construction of the Hidrovia will begin next month, without

completion of prior environmental impact and technical

feasibility studies.

The Inter-governmental Committee on the Hidrovia (CIH)

accepted a proposal from a 300-member coalition of non-

governmental organizations called "Rios Vivos" to provide access

to all documents and studies on the project. The CIH also

promised to initiate a process of public participation and

"legitimate public consultations", and promised to provide

details on how the studies are being carried out, the chain of

responsibility for the studies, and the timetable for decisions

on the project. Despite the governments' agreement with the NGO

proposal, Jorge Sanguinetti of Uruguay, the new president of the

CIH, said at a press conference on December 7 that construction

of the Hidrovia will begin in January, 1996 at an expected cost

of $400 million. This assertion was made despite the fact that

engineering and economic feasibility and environmental impact

studies funded by the Inter-american Development Bank and United

Nations Development Programme will not be completed until late

1996.

In reaction, the Rios Vivos coalition sent a letter to

Sanguinetti saying that his remarks were a sign of "contempt" for

the efforts of people from the five-country region "to attain a

democratic and open public participation process which will

permit a real social and environmental evaluation of the project

to take place, before it moves ahead."

Glenn Switkes, Latin America Program Director of

International Rivers Network, a member of the coordination of the

coalition, said "For three years now, environmentalists, human

rights advocates, and populations of indigenous peoples and

fisherfolk who would be affected by the project have worked to

have their voices heard in the decision making process. Every

time they attain their legitimate place at the table, proponents

of the project try to bar the door."

The Hidrovia project would require widening and deepening

the channels of the Paraguay and Parana, South America's second

largest river system, to allow ocean-going ships access to the

port of Caceres, Brazil, 2,100 miles upstream from the river's

mouth near Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Under the plan being

studied, the rivers would be channeled, straightened, and

dredged, with tributaries of the river blocked off and rock

outcroppings in the channel detonated.

Studies, including a new hydrological assessment by Dr.

Victor Ponce of San Diego State University, have demonstrated the

probability of the destruction of the Brazilian Pantanal, the

world's most extensive wetlands, if Hidrovia construction takes

place as planned. Indigenous populations from the region have

also expressed concern about effects river modifications on their

traditional economic activities, such as fishing, and the

prospects of an increase in land conflicts and expulsion of

Indian communities from their territories.

For more information contact:

Glenn Switkes, International Rivers Network

+(510) 848 1155

Silvia Ribeiro, Redes-Amigos de la Tierra Uruguay

+(598-2) 35 62 65

Alcides Faria, Rios Vivos Secretariat, Brazil

+(55-67) 724 3230

INTERNATIONAL RIVERS NETWORK

1847 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, California 94703 USA

Tel: (510) 848-1155 / Fax: (510) 848-1008 / E-mail

irn@igc.apc.org

INDIGENOUS ISSUES

- Update: judgment postponed.

Two weeks ago we reported that the judgment of six people

being accused of the murder of Jesuit, Vicente Canas, was set for

December 14 in Juina, State of Mato Grosso. The judgment was

postponed for a second time - it already had been postponed in

September 1994. According to judge Marcos Martins Siqueira the

postponement was due to a strike of functionaries of court houses

in the state. In 1994 the reason given for the postponement was

that the accused had not been found.

Vicente Canas who was born in Spain had worked for twenty

years with the indigenous people and had taken out Brazilian

citizenship. When he was assassinated in 1987 he was working with

the Enawene-Nawe indigenous group and was blamed by the local

ranchers as being responsible for organizing the resistance of

the indians against invasion of their territory. Amongst the six

people being accused of his murder is the local chief of police

at that time. The crime was also widely condemned for its

barbarity - the headless body of Canas was found a month after

his assassination and the head was found in a square of Belo

Horizonte (State capital of Minas Gerais) two years later.

- CIMI's weekly newsletter.

We reproduce the weekly newsletter prepared and translated

by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI).

Newsletter n. 189

SIVAM SCANDAL STRENGTHENS CALHA NORTE PROJECT

Working for several months, the special commission of the

National Congress which is studying how to make the Calha Norte

Project feasible took advantage of the crisis of the

Investigation and Surveillance System of the Amazon Region

(Sivam) to propose that the Calha Norte Project should be

resumed as a complement to Sivam, which is the target of growing

denunciations of corruption. Devised by the National Security

Council in 1985, Calha Norte would be implemented on the border

between Brazil and five countries, covering 6,771 km. It was

partly implemented and then suspended due to financial problems.

It is a development and militarist project that includes the

setting up of Armed Forces stations in Indian areas, as was the

case in the Yanomami territory. Of the actions of Calha Norte

was to encourage mining activities, one of the factors causing

health problems to Indians in Amazonia.

When it was launched, Cimi prepared a dossier with heavy

accusations against the project, which was particularly analyzed

in its genocidal features. The ideological concept of Calha

Norte is based on the false assumption that was very much used

by the military dictatorship that the region must be

``protected'' against the internationalization of Amazonia and

that Indian peoples must be prevented from establishing

independent States. 60,000 Tukano, Baniwa, Kuripako, Tikuna,

Yanomami, Mayongong, Taurepang, Macuxi and Wapixana Indians live

in the area covered by Calha Norte and Sivam.

JOBIM VISITS GUARANI-KAIOWA AREA

The minister of Justice, Nelson Jobim, signed on Monday,

December 11, an administrative decree authorizing the

demarcation of the Panambizinho reservation in the state of Mato

Grosso do Sul. The decree was signed during the two-day visit

which the minister paid to the reservations of the Guarani-

Kaiowa Indians, which coincided with the hanging of two

additional Indians, raising to 54 the number of suicides

registered among Indians this year. The reservation was expanded

from 60 to 1,240 hectares. Farmers and other people who are

against the demarcation watched from afar as the minister signed

the decree. On Tuesday, the 12th, two councilmen from the city

expressed their disagreement with the demarcation, saying that

conflicts, and even a bloodshed, may result from the decision.

The Panambizinho area is but one of the 22 Guarani-Kaiowa

villages facing overcrowding problems because of the reduction

of their land. The Kaiowa had been fighting for expanding this

area for over 57 years and they demand the same treatment for

the remaining reservations.

Brasilia, December 15th, 1995

The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited.