- Brazil loses US $300 million with the drought

- Brazil loses US $300 million with the drought

A study of the Ministry of the Environment revealed that Brazil loses annually close to US $300 million with the drought that mostly affects the Northeast and the north of Minas Gerais. According to the minister, Jose Sarney Filho, the country would need to invest US $2 million every year for a period of 20 years to reverse the damages. Statistics from Sudene (Superintendent of the Development of the Northeast) show that Brazil registered a loss of approximately US $8.5 billion in agriculture and cattle in the northeast region in the last decade. The 3rd annual Conference on the Convention of the United Nations regarding Drought (COP3) started yesterday in Olinda, Pernambuco and will be going on until the 26th of this month. Close to 3,000 representatives from 190 different countries should be participating. At the end of yesterday afternoon, the minister of the Environment, Jose Sarney Filho was elected president of COP3. The former president of COP3, Marco Maciel, made an appeal to some wealthy nations who have still not ratified the convention, that they should do so during the Olinda conference.

Source: Folha de Sao Paulo

November 16, 1999

- Bishop of Volta Redonda retires after 33 years

After 33 years as bishop of the Volta Redonda (Rio de Janeiro) diocese, Dom Waldyr Calheiros, 76 years old, asked to retire and the Vatican accepted. He maintains the title of bishop emeritus, but will have no administrative responsabilities.

During his 33 years in the diocese, D. Waldyr was noted for frictions with several Brazilian presidents and for his progresssive positions within the church. He defended positions considered polemical within the catholic church, like the ordination of married men and the revision of doctrine regarding birth control. "The church must have the courage to reconsider its positions."

He blames the lack of priestly vocations on the church’s acceptance of only single men into the priesthood. "I think the day will arrive when the church will accept married men to be priests. If the church remains with only the current model of priest, the church will no longer be able to provide priestly service."

No bishop gave the presidents during the military regime as much trouble as D. Waldyr. He assumed the Volta Redonda diocese in 1966 and in 1969 was already involved in a military police investigation, accused of subversion for having denounced cases of torture within the limits of his diocese. The investigation was shelved in 1971 and D. Waldyr laughs about it today, remembering the name he received from his accusers "the agitator of the Vale de Paraiba".

In the 70s and 80s, together with the the bishops of Nova Iguacu (Dom Adriano Hypolito), of Duque de Caixas (Dom Mauro Morelli) and of Itaguai (Dom Vital Wilderink), he formed a type of progressive belt around the large conservative diocese of Rio.

Even after the end of the military regime, D. Waldyr continued his confrontations. In 1988, he led protests against the death of three workers on strike, beaten by the Army in front of the National Ironworks Company. The next clash was economic, against the privitiazation of the the National Ironworks Company, and the target of the then president Itamar Franco. D. Waldyr, who defines himself as a democratic socialist, thinks that the sale of state enterprises was a crime against the city.

Source: Folha de Sao Paulo

November 17, 1999

- Conflict in Bahia between military police and Patoxo and Patoxo-ha-hae

Last week the Patoxo and Patoxo-ha-hae took possession of 54,000 hectares of land that was demarcated in 1926 in the Caramuru-Catarina-Paraguassu reserve in Pau Brasil, Bahia. On Wednesday night, close to 150 military police of Itabuna, 469 km from Salvador, and Pau Brasil, 528 km south of Salvador, began occupying the area as well. "The general climate in the local, which was friendly, turned tense with the arrival of the police", affirmed the vice president of Cimi (Indiengous Missionary Council), Saulo Feitosa. According to Cimi, the police resolved to occupy the area claimed by the two indigenous groups "to provide security to the groups and to impede more land occupations."

According to the Itabuna police, as they were attempting to take down a barrier on the road that leads to the Patoxo and Patoxo-ha-hae settlement, they were ambushed and two military police officers were killed. Yesterday morning, the governor Cesar Borges (PFL) authorized the sending of shock troops to the region. "We are going to adopt all the provisions necessary to punish those responsible for the crimes", declared the governor. According to the governor, the military police will disarm all who are occupying the area, including the indigenous groups and the land owners. After confirmation of the deaths of the two officers, the police blocked all the roads that provide access to the indigenous community.

Currently, close to 1,200 Patoxo and Patoxo-ha-hae occupy 2,000 hectares of the reserve. "The other 54 ,000 hectares are in the hands of land owners who received land titles from the Bahian government" affirmed the vice-president of Cimi. "The indigenous groups took possession of the land to pressure the government to resolve the impasse." The conflict between the Patoxo, the Patoxo-ha-hae and land owners in Pau Brasil started 17 years ago when Funai went to court with an action asking to nullify the land titles conceded by the Bahian government to the ex-tenants of the region. According to Funai, the distribution of land titles in the region started in 1976.

Source: Folha de Sao Paulo

November 19, 1999

Antonio is 36 years old. At the age of 23, he 'opted' to live on the streets

and he believes that the street people are more fraternal than anywhere else. Antonio does not like to live in halfway houses. During the day he frequents the Casa de Convivencia São Louise and Nossa Sra. Do Bom Conselho, where he helps and organizes the community library.

"I was 17 years old when my parents died. I got involved in with the Hare Krishnas, it is a philosophy where people do not prostitute themselves, do not drink and are faithful to their husband or wife... it was a great experience. After seven years I left the movement, I lived in a shelter and worked as a waiter, but I was not very good at it.

I have 9 siblings, 5 brothers and 4 sisters, but they have their own lives. My father was a Coronel in the army. My mother was a pediatrician. The fact is that my parents worked their entire lives. After they retired they felt their lives had no meaning. I was never competitive.

In everything, there are people who like to use others to get on in life. It is a way of life that does not suit me. Because of this I slipped behind. Today if you do not have computer skills, or higher education, or speak a foreign language, you are left behind or left out. I would like to have gone to college, but I only got as far as high school. That is what happened to me.

On the street there are people who have studied, who have gone to college and still cannot get employment. They end up selling anything they can on the street. At this moment the city administration has prevented them from selling their wears. As a result of all this they fall behind in their rent and then are evicted. The only alternative is to live on the streets. I believe the problem is a social one. When I was little my Mother used to take me to the center of the city and if we saw a beggar, we would feel sorry for him. Today there is a beggar on every street corner.

Today a whole population lives on the streets.

In my cast it is a personal problem. It is an option and it will continue to be an option until I find employment where I can live with a certain level of dignity. I would like to leave the streets but I can only do that when I have a salary that will permit me to live a decent life. Violence prevents one from working for next to nothing. I could work as a sweeper in

the metro station, but I would only earn 130 reais, that is not sufficient to pay rent, pay transport to work, light, water etc and the violence that one has to face daily.

My cry to the government is to take a good look at the high rate of unemployment in our country. The government gives greater advantages to foreigners than to its own citizens. We have no education, no health facilities, no homes and above all no work.

Because of this I prefer to stay on the street. I spent the night in the Marquises and my days in the shelter. One thing I can say and this is from my experience, that there is great solidarity among the street people. There may be one plate of food but is shared among us. On the street we discover that the street people are far more brotherly and sisterly than our government.

Source: O Trecho

Some Facts:

Reasons why people live on the streets

1) Unemployment. 2) Insufficient income 3) Family problems

65% of those living on the streets are men and are under the age of 40

50% are white

30% are brown

20% are black

50% are from the Southeast (States of São Paulo and Minas Gerais)

50% are from other regions - mainly from the Northeast

Source: Populacao de Rua

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