Number 37, July 09, 1992.

NATIONAL POLITICS

- "The crisis isn't a fantasy nor is it orchestrated".

The Movement for Ethics in Politics (Movimento pela Etica na Politica) released an official statement which states that the crisis which has hit the country is neither a fantasy nor is it orchestrated. Recent denouncements which have become public and which involve the President of the country, caused the Movement for Ethics in Politics to question the public pronouncement President Fernando Collor made on the night of June 30 last. In the statement, the entities which form part of the Movement for Ethics in Politics remember that the entire Brazilian society has the duty to accompany and strengthen the work being carried out by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry and also the investigations being carried out by the Federal Public Ministry (Ministerio Publico Federal). The document emphasizes that "the justifications and the explanations which the President of the Republic needed once again to give to the Nation, did not result in tranquilizing Brazilian society. The pronouncement was incapable of hiding the evidence and taking away the doubts which remain in the spirit and the conscience of the citizens".

Those who signed the document lament that the verification of denouncements which according to the Constitution should be carried out by the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry, the Federal Public Ministry and the Supreme Federal Tribunal (Supremo Tribunal Federal) were instead taken to the radio and to television. They go on to demand that the Constitution be respected since "there are competent mechanisms after the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry has given its results and after and depending on the results of the process set up by the Public Ministry to establish the responsibility of public authorities and their removal from office; in this way a coup d'etat type of solution will not be possible".

The entities who signed the statement emphasized the importance of the constitutional role of the means of communication in democratic regimes and for this reason they reject any attempt of intimidation.

RURAL WORKERS

- Posseiros (farmers without land documentation) camp in the main square of the city of Eldorado, State of Sao Paulo.

Approximately 48 posseiros who were expelled from their farms in the locality known as Guapiruvu in the municipality of Eldorado are camped in the main square of the town - Praca Nossa Senhora da Guia. The posseiros were born and grew up in Guapiruvu. However, recently some landgrabbers (called grileiros in Brazil) arrived there claiming ownership of these lands. The judge of the town of Cananeia, who during a month was also responsible for the Courthouse in Eldorado, recognized the right of ownership of Herivaldo Ceciliano (one of the grileiros) to the area in question. Judge Monica Ribeiro de Souza who took on the responsibility for the Eldorado Courthouse on June 16 last, ordered the expulsion of the families so that Ceciliano could effectively take over ownership.

Antonio Ribeiro, one of the people expelled, in an interview with AGEN, stated that the expulsion took place during a weekend (June 19 and 20) which according to Brazilian law is not permitted. Furthermore, this unexpected event since it happened during a weekend did not allow the families involved to organize themselves or to enter into negotiations. Immediately after the families who were expelled set up a camp site in the town square, Colonel Ireneu Clerc of the military police arrived to negotiate the withdrawal of the families from the square since their protest was "damaging the grass of a public place". Soon afterwards, a commission of those in the campment along with the president of the local legislature, Jesse Machado, went to the mayor, Ari Mariano Pereira, to negotiate the possibility of the families remaining in the square until their situation could be resolved. The mayor accepted to negotiate a solution with the State Government.

The posseiros believe that protest messages to the judge could quickly bring about a solution. Please send a protest message as soon as possible to: Juiz da Comarca de Eldorado, Forum, Praca Nossa Senhora da Guia S/N, 11.960 Eldorado, Estado de Sao Paulo, Brazil.

HUMAN RIGHTS

- The Justice and Peace Commission of Sao Paulo celebrates its 20th. anniversary.

The 20th. anniversary of the foundation of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo will be commemorated on August 02 next with a mass celebrated in the Se Cathedral by the Archbishop of Sao Paulo, Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns. During the two decades of its existence, the justice and Peace Commission became known for its struggle for the democratization of the country (especially so during the military dictatorship) and for its conscientization of public opinion regarding human rights.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

- Seminar of the 500 Years campaign of resistance.

With the objective of strengthening the articulation process of the indigenous peoples, negroes and of urban and rural grassroots groups, a Seminar of the Continental Campaign of Popular, Indigenous and Negro Resistance took place on June 29 and 30 in Cajamar, Sao Paulo. Approximately 40 representatives representing 25 entities in 15 Brazilian states planned activities which should characterize the 500 years commemoration from the perspective of peoples and sectors who until today have been left on the margin of history.

Opening the seminar, Leinad dos Santos of the Pro Indian Commission of Sao Paulo, stressed that "the first 500 years were characterized by the exclusion of the indigenous peoples, negroes and the popular sectors. We are here today in order to remember that we have a history of resistance and that we can construct a new phase of history which will be characterized by participation". During the seminar, Flavio J. Rodrigues spoke representing the National Coordination of Negro Entities (Coordenacao Nacional das Entidades Negras) as well as Jose Albino from the Congress of Grassroots Movements (Pro Central dos Movimentos Poplars) and Saba Manchenery from the Union of the Indigenous Peoples of the Brazilian Amazon (Pro Central dos Povos Indigenas da Amazonia Brasileira). Luis Eduardo Greenhalgh spoke on the theme " The rescue and historical perspectives of 500 years of domination and resistance".

URBAN WORKERS

- Retired people win the 147% question.

After nine months struggle, the Supreme Federal Tribune (Supremo Tribunal Federal) judged in favor of the retired people's pension raise which has been in dispute since last September. The Supreme Federal Tribunal confirmed a sentence of the Superior Tribunal of Justice (Superior Tribunal de Justica) and decided that the readjustment would be 147,06%. As and from September last, those who earned up to the minimum salary in pensions received an increase of 147,06% while those who received more than the minimum salary were given an increase of 54,6%. "It was only a question of time" commented lawyer Annibal Fernandes who is a specialist in this area. According to the vice president of the Brazilian Confederation of Retired People and Pensioners (Confederacao Brasileira de Aposentados e Pensionistas - Cobap), Oswaldo Lourenco, the retired showed how they were organized and gave an example to society. According to Lourenco, this category is less subject to manipulation today. The decision of the Supreme Federal Tribune was the result of cases taken by the Association of Retired Metalworkers (Associacao dos Metalurgicos Aposentados) of Sao Paulo and of the Retired People's Association (Associacao dos Aposentados) of Brasilia. It is expected however, that the government will extend the increase in pensions to over 2 million other retired persons who receive more than a minimum salary, so as to avoid more law suits. The Minister for Social Welfare, Reinhold Stephanes, stated that means of payment are being studied.

- Workers and factory owners renew an agreement.

Representatives of the metalworkers, of firms from the automobile sector and from the government accepted on July 01 to renew the agreement of the sectorial camera for another six months. The agreement stipulates that the prices of vehicles may only be increased if there occurs an increase in costs. The workers plan to closely accompany this question and have requested detailed information regarding increases from the automobile firms. They have also succeeded in receiving a salary increase to compensate for inflation until October as well as work stability for 30 days.

"For the first time in our history we have succeeded in getting a seven month's salary adjustment in proportion to inflation" commented the president of the Metalworkers Trade Union (Sindicato dos Metalurgicos) of Sao Bernardo do Campo and Diadema, Vicente Paulo da Silva (Vincentinho). He was referring to the three months of the first agreement (April to June) and the four months of the present agreement (July to October). Vincentinho believes that the agreement is important. "It shows that in Brazil, in spite of all the rot, civil society is mobilizing itself and is seeking solutions" he states referring to the denouncements involving President Fernando Collor.

CHURCHES

- Leonardo Boff leaves the official ministry of the Catholic Church.

A huge loss for the Roman Catholic Church as an institution and for grassroots pastoral activities - it was with this sentiment that the majority of christians who live their faith in an ecumenical form received on June 28 last the news that Leonardo Boff, the best known Brazilian liberation theologian, decided to officially leave the priestly ministry. The decision was announced by Boff himself in a letter which he sent to the newspaper "Folha de Sao Paulo". In the letter Boff states "There are moments in life in which a person in order to be faithful to themselves must change. I changed. I didn't change the battle but the trench. I leave the priestly ministry but not the Church. I separate myself from the Franciscan Order but not from the gentle and fraternal dream of Saint Francis of Assis. I continue and will always be a theologian of a catholic and ecumenical background, starting from the poor, against their poverty and in favor of their liberation".

What provoked Boff's decision was a number of censorship measures recently decreed by the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. These measures submit to episcopal decision each and every piece of writing carried out by religious and destined for the public. Under continual pressure since the 1970s, Boff had been experiencing a systematic limitation of his work as a theologian and as a prolific writer. The Editora Vozes publishing house of which he was a director, is subject to censorship since last year and some of the censors are former students of Boff in the Theological Institute of the Franciscans.

His decision to officially leave the ministry will limit his space in the institutional areas of the Catholic Church. This will not hinder however, his work as a theologian and as a writer. For conservative sectors of the Catholic Church, Boff's decision is taken as a victory. With such sectors can also be placed other groups interested in power control on a world level who see liberation theology as an obstacle to the status quo. Already in 1980, the Santa Fe Document, prepared as a working paper for President Regan's first term as president, proposed to the White House initiatives "to oppose liberation theology such as is used in Latin America by the clergy linked to it".

- Captain who killed 200 people attacks the Minors' Pastoral (Pastoral do Menor).

Military police captain of Sao Paulo and presently state deputy, Roberval Conte Lopes, who in numerous interviews has proudly announced that he has killed approximately 200 people, has been intensifying attacks on the Minors' Pastoral of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo in a radio programme which he presents daily on Radio Tupi. Contes Lopes has been systematically attacking during the last few weeks Fathers Julio Renato Lancelotti and Fernando Altemeyer. Father Lancelotti is responsible for the pastoral coordination of the archdiocese for the Minors' Pastoral, Aids Victims and Street Dwellers (Sofredores da Rua). Last year he received anonymous death threats after he had succeeded in providing shelter during the winter period for approximately a dozen poor people in a municipality building in the eastern region of Sao Paulo. Father Altemeyer is involved in a work of protection of children threatened by drug trafficers also in the eastern region of Sao Paulo.

Captain Conte Lopes became famous in Sao Paulo because of his work with the Rota, an elite force of the police which holds the record for police killings. Conte appeared on magazine covers after stating that he personally killed 200 people. Recently, on leaving his office in the Legislative Assembly he killed a youth involved in an attempted assault. Members of the Workers' Party (PT) demanded that his parliamentary mandate be suspended but the other parties in the Assembly are against this proposal. Parliamentary immunity also protects him from a law suit.

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