Number 359, July 16, 1999.
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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
- NGO's use appropriate technology to alleviate drought effectsin Northeast
- Six police accused of torture are imprisoned in Alagoas
- 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 São Paulo
July 9, 1999
- Music helping to change lives in juvenile prisons
Juvenile delinquents in São Paulo's Febems (prisons for minors) are
looking to change their lives through rap music. Sponsored by a project
called "Guri" (little boy) and a local band, "Jigaboo," a competition was
held in which 35 adolescents were selected to record a CD which will be
called "Reality." All of the songs on the CD to be released in August are
composed and sung by the youth of various Febems in the city. For the
leader of the group Jigaboo, P.MC, the CD is a way to show the reality of
the adolescents from the point of view of those who are on the inside, and
to help the youths enter into the musical market. One young man, who
learned to play the guitar through Project Guri, said, "I entered the
‘family Jigaboo' to show society that we are not what they think. There
are many good people in here."
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 10, 1999
- 13,000 youths in prison unlawfully
Of the 20,000 minors who are serving some type of prison sentence or
"liberty deprivation," 65% should not be doing so if Brazil were following
its ECA (Statute of on Children and Adolescents). These 13,000 who
committed such acts as petty theft and/or robbery should be, according to
the law, serving some sort of "socio-educational" sentence, such as
community service. According to article 122 of the ECA, minors may only be
imprisoned when they have done or gravely threatened to do some act of
violence against another, or if they have not keep a previous sentence.
According to specialists, juvenile delinquents are equivocally imprisoned
because there is in society and especially in the justice system a punitive
mentally. "The justice system here is addicted to a vision of
incarceration. It just doesn't make sense to but some kid who has stolen a
bicycle or some other such goods in a prison," criticized Mário Volpi a
representative of Unicef.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 14, 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 João 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 ‘sertão' (Brazil's arid region) can guarantee livelihood to
its inhabitants," said Unicef's Jacques Schwarzstein.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 12, 1999
- Six police accused of torture are imprisoned in Alagoas
Six more police accused of being involved in the torture of José Joaquim
Araújo, a 45 year-old electrician, were arrested and jailed. Last week,
two other police were detained. Araújo was imprisoned after being accused
of assassinating José de Melo, a police officer. During his imprisonment,
Araújo was beaten by 20 or so police officers. Three days after the
arrest, another person stepped forward and took responsibility for the
assassination of de Melo. Araújo was released, but ten hours later, was
found dead with 20 gun shot wounds.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 13, 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."
- Ford "laments" political turmoil over factory plant
Ford Company's announcement that it would not build in Rio Grande do Sul
but in Bahia were the company was offered a sweeter deal caused a great
deal of tension among various political parties and regions. Ford said
that it "lamented" the difficulties that the decision caused, but said it
would like to continue with plans to build in Bahia, if the political
situation is resolved and agreements can be signed.
Source: Folha de São Paulo
July 14, 1999
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