Number 339, February 25, 1999.
Visit our home page: http://www.oneworld.org/sejup/
Our principal topics this week are:
ECONOMICS
- Unemployment Doubles, Says Text
- Fund for the Northeast Wastes R$550 Million in 40 Years
- Price of Basic Food Items Hits a New Record
INDIGENOUS
- Youths Will Go to a Public Jury for the Death of an Indigenous
HUMAN RIGHTS
- Luzia Canuto Receives a Human Rights Award from the French Government
- The Joao Canuto Case
ECONOMICS
Unemployment Doubles, Says Text
One of the texts for the 1999 Lenten appeal of the Catholic Church in
Brazil states that unemployment in the country has more than doubled since
1994 when the government released the Real Plan. It went from 3.42% to 7%.
The data, taken from IBGE (Brazilian Institute for Geography and
Statistics), refers to formal and informal employment in the principal
metropolitan areas. According to the text of the campaign, 755,379 formal
jobs were eliminated in the first two years of the Real Plan. The
financial sector has been most affected, with the elimination of 147,233
jobs. The industrial sector released 16% of its workers. The auto
industry could release 30% of its work force by 2000. In the countryside,
in 1997 alone, nearly 200,000 rural workers lost their jobs.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo, 18 February 1999
- Fund for the Northeast Wastes R$550 Million in 40 Years
At least R$550 million destined by Finor (Northeast Investment Fund) for
nvestments in the poor Northeast of Brazil were wasted in the almost 40
years of the existence of Sudene (the larger umbrella under which falls
Finor). The R$550 million was invested by the federal government in 650
businesses/enterprises that closed without giving any returns or that never
materialized. The waste was discovered by audits done by Sudene through
another agency. The audits were to verify the destiny of R$ 13.6 billion
invested by Finor during its 40 years of existence. Of the 650 businesses,
46 are being called judicially to return R$381.1 million to public coffers.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo, 17 February 1999
- Price of Basic Food Items Hits a New Record
The price of basic food items, such as rice, wheat, sugar, oil, milk, hit
its highest level since the implantation of the Real (Brazil’s monetary
unit) in 1994. People living in the city of São Paulo paid an average R$
129.28 for these products. Five years ago, they paid R$106.40. This
represents a rate of increase of 21.5%. Among those products which rose
the highest are: mozzarella cheese (35%), coffee (32.3%), flour (22.1%)
and wheat (20%). The most dramatic increases in prices have been in the
last two months since the devaluing of the Real. Yesterday, the Real
closed at R$1.97 to the dollar.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo, 23 February 1999
INDIGENOUS
- Youths Will Go to a Public Jury for the Death of an Indigenous
Four of the five young men who set on fire and killed a Pataxo Indian,
Galdino Jesus dos Santos, will be judged by a public jury. They will be
tried for homicide. The decision, made by three votes of the Brazilian
Supreme Court, knocks down the decision made by the president of the
Justice Tribunal of the Federal District, Sanda de Santis, who ruled that
the youth were guilty of bodily harm which resulted in death. This
conviction carries with it a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.
Homicide carries a maximum sentence of 30 years.
The crime occurred in the early morning of the 20th of April, 1997, in
Brasilia. Galdino Jesus had just arrived from Bahia to defend the
demarcation of his Pataxo reserve. When he went to the Hostel where he was
staying, he found that it was closed. He then went to sleep on a bus stop
bench. It was there that five young men who allege that they thought he
was a streetperson, dowsed him with flammable liquid and set him on fire.
Four of the youths have been in prison since that night. The fifth youth,
who was a minor at the time, completed six months in a penal institution
for minors, and has since been given conditional liberty.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo, 10 February 1999
HUMAN RIGHTS
- Luzia Canuto Receives a Human Rights Award from the French Government
On the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,
the French Government honored five defenders of human rights from various
parts of the world. Luzia Canuto de Oliveira Pereira, International
President of the Rio Maria Committee, was one of the award recipients. The
others were Win Tin of Burma, a political prisoner serving a nineteen year
sentence; Maggie Barankitse of Burundi, who rescued and protected children
who had survived the massacres of 1993; Muchtar Pakpahan, of Indonesia, a
union activist who was imprisoned four times between 1994 and 1997; and
Ibrahim Rugova of Yugoslavia, who has been working for a non-violent
solution in Kosovo.
Luzia went to Paris in December to accept the award. She was accompanied by
Father Ricardo Rezende, who was invited to attend by Amnesty International.
Luzia was chosen for the award because of her untiring struggle against the
impunity of those who order the murders of small farmers and union leaders
who are working for agrarian reform. Her father Joao Canuto, the president
of the Union of Rural Workers of Rio Maria, was killed in 1985, her two
brothers were killed in 1990, and a third brother and her husband were
victims of attempts on their lives in 1990 and 1991. The slowness of the
legal process against the accused of the assassination of Luzia's father
was what led the Interamerican Human Rights Commission of the OAS
(Organization of American States) to issue a condemnation against the
Brazilian government in June of 1998 because of its negligence. Luzia, who
has received threats against her life, continues to have a special police
guard, as a result of a request by the Commission.
- The Joao Canuto Case
The trial of the persons accused of ordering the murder of Joao Canuto is
still being conducted. At the request of the defense, Father Ricardo
Rezende will be cross examined by a Judge in Rio de Janeiro in February.
Two witnesses for the prosecution were heard in Belem in December.
Source: Rio Maria Bulletin, February 1999
The Rio Maria Bulletin disseminates information that comes directly from
the central committee in Rio Maria in the south of the State of Para and
from other or- ganizations concerned with human rights. Comments and
inquiries may be sent to:
Rio Maria Committee
P.O. Box 380312
Cambridge, MA 02238-0312
Telephone: (617) 491-7646 Fax: (617) 491-7656
E-mail: riomariausa@igc.apc.org
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is
cited.
The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited. If you wish to contact us, send a message to braziljusticenet@braziljusticenet.org. If you wish to be removed from our email list, go to http://braziljusticenet.org/subscribe.htm, type in your email address, and click "unsubscribe" button.