Number 38, July 16, 1992.

NATIONAL POLITICS

- A date for the foundation of a Congress of Grassroots Movements has been defined.

Representatives from grassroots movements from 20 Brazilian states met in Sumare, Sao Paulo during the first weekend of July and decided that the meeting for the foundation of the Congress of Grassroots Movements will take place during the second semester of 1993. At this recent meeting a number of topics were discussed: criteria for the participation of grassroots movements, content of the meeting, its objectives, characteristics and agenda. These topics will now be taken back to the grassroots movements in the different states. In order to prepare the meeting which will set up the congress, a number of commissions were set up; their task is to articulate this project at national level.

Having analyzed the situation, the members of the grassroots movements present at the meeting organized the activity calendar for the second half of 1992. Importance was given to their participation in three events during the next few months: the Second National Journey of Struggles (Segunda Jornada Nacional de Lutas), the Ninth National Health Conference (Nona Conferencia Nacional de Saude) and the activities of the 500 Years' Campaign of Indigenous, Negro and Popular Resistance (500 Anos de Resistencia Indigena, Negra e Popular).

Representatives from the grassroots movements from the entire country will encourage participation in popular manifestations of support for the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (Comissao Parliamentar de Inquerito - CPI) known popularly as the "CPI of Corruption". They see their function as support for "the seeking of truth and the punishment of the guilty". The grassroots movements, together with trade unions, political parties and different entities of civil society will try to organize a mobilization so that the Brazilian population may be informed regarding corruption. Regarding the impeachment of President Fernando Collor, the leadership of the grassroots movements stress that "this will only be possible with a full popular participation".

URBAN WORKERS

- Fifth Latin American Conference of Workers in the Automobile Industry.

Approximately 80 representatives, from Brazil and abroad, took part in a seminar of the national automobile industry and in the Fifth Latin American Conference of Workers in the Automobile Industry. The Conference was promoted by the International Federation of Metalworkers (Fitim). The seminar took place between July 07 and 12 and discussed themes such as the neoliberal process and new forms of production.

"We here in Latin America should be capable of presenting alternatives to the world" commented the president of the Trade Union of Sao Bernardo, Vicente Paulo da Silva (Vincentinho). "Sao Bernardo is a city which is suffering the consequences of new work methods" commented Vincentinho referring to the closure of Ford Motores there last February.

"The automobile industry is a thermometer which measures the situation of the country" commented Fernando Melgosa, regional director of Fitim for Latin America and the Caribbean. He defended unity of action amongst the various trade unions of the category. Fitim represents approximately 16 million workers all over the world of which approximately 2,5 million are linked to the automobile industry.

- Workers denounce radioactive contamination.

"The factories will only leave here after they present a plan of decontamination of the area and assistance to the workers". This warning is being given by the Chemical Workers (Sindicato dos Quimicos) of Sao Paulo due of the planned closure in the near future of Nuclemon Minero Quimica. The company recently announced its move to Resende, State of Rio de Janeiro. The factory situated in Brooklin, in the city of Sao Paulo, will be closed and 240 workers will be left unemployed.

But this isn't the only problem. A year ago, workers in Nuclemon alerted public opinion to the illegal storing of radio active materials which is a threat to the local population and to the environment. The question went to law and the Municipal Legislature set up a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry to investigate possible irregularities.

The Chemical Workers Trade Union and ecological entities want guarantees for the workers and also demand the decontamination of the factory before the move is made to Resende. "There are 750 tons of radio active materials in the Brooklin factory. Where do they plan to store this material?" ask the workers.

- Lay-offs pass the 450 thousand mark.

Lay-offs in industries of Sao Paulo have already reached 453 thousand since the beginning of the Collor government. This reduction in the work market was surveyed by the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (Fiesp). In the first six months of 1992 alone, 102 thousand lay-offs were registered. The study carried out by Fiesp does not foresee perspectives for recovery.

WOMEN'S QUESTIONS

- The participation of the Women's Movement in Eco-92 is evaluated in Sao Paulo.

"In the organization of the Planeta Femea, Brazilian women not only administrated the event but were co-authors in the process of political negotiation". This statement was made by Rosiska Darcy de Oliveira during the First Seminar of Evaluation of the Participation of the Women's Movements from Sao Paulo in Eco-92. The event took place in Sao Paulo on July 04. Rosiska, who is attached to the Institute of Cultural Action (Instituto de Acao Cultural - Idac) in Rio de Janeiro, was the representative of Brazilian women's organizations in the Global Forum as well as coordinator of the Planeta Femea. This was the name given to the space specially reserved for women during the Parallel Conference of Eco-92 which took place in Rio de Janeiro between June 02 and 14.

Brazilian women took on the preparation of June 06 and 07 and dealt with the theme "Population" on June 06 and "Ethics" on June 07. Planeta Femea showed that women have proposals to face up to "the bankruptcy of civilization which the world is passing through". "If in Rio Centro (the site of the official U.N. conference) technical questions were being discussed, in the Planeta Femea the destiny and meaning of life was in debate" affirmed Risiska.

Rosiska, as well as Sonia Alves Calio from the Women's Center of Information (Centro Informacao Mulher) in Sao Paulo, stressed that the agenda of the U.N. changed after Eco-92. "The present market system does not take into account life as a totality. Now life is on the agenda of the U.N. and the next conference in 1994 will debate population".

MEANS OF COMMUNICATION

- The Interstate Federation of Workers in Telecommunications start a movement in defense of the Telebras system.

On July 07 at 6.30 P.M., the Movement in Defense of the Telebras System was launched via TV Executiva of Embratel. Using Brasilsat 11, the Interstate Federation of Workers in Telecommunications (Federacao Interestadual dos Trabalhadores em Telecomunicacoes - Fittel) presented a national program in closed circuit which contained statements defending the text of the Constitution which guarantees state monopoly in telecommunications.

"The telecommunication sector has become during the last decades strategically vital for any people who intend to succeed in their social, political and economic development" said Celio Cruz, general coordinator of Fittel. According to the tradeunionist "privatization in the sector of telecommunications puts in risk the development of the nation".

According to Cruz "there already is no doubt that a society can survive freely and democratically if it does not keep under its control the telecommunication sector. In Brazil, only 5% of the localities with telephone services are lucrative and thus can subsidize other localities. In this way, to guarantee state monopoly is to guarantee that all of Brazil will be served by telephone services without regional discrimination".

During the program, statements from various national figures such as Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, Miguel Arraes and the leader of the Workers' Party (PT) Luis Inacio lula da Silva were presented.

CHURCHES

- Communication is proposed to the bishops as a theme for the Assembly of the CNBB.

Communication in the Church is one of the themes proposed by journalists for one of the forthcoming assemblies of the National Conference of the Bishops of Brazil (Conferencia Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil - CNBB). This proposal was approved in Curitiba, State of Parana recently at the Fourth National Meeting of the Catholic Press. The World Congress of Catholic Journalists will take place in Campos do Jordao, State of Sao Paulo between September 22 and 28 next.

- Continental meeting of Clai in Bolivia.

"Martyrdom and Hope" is the theme of the continental meeting being organized by the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI) which will be held in Cochabamba, Bolivia between August 10 and 15 next. The general theme treated in the meeting will be the 500 years of conquest in Latin America.

- Methodists prepare for the "Baixada Livre" meeting in August.

The 10th. "Baixada Livre" meeting of the Methodist Church will take place on August 22 in Sao Joao de Meriti, in the Baixada Fluminense, State of Rio de Janeiro. This latter region is one of the poorest in Brazil. Pastors and laity of the Methodist Church involved in popular pastoral activity in the region will take part. Using as a basis the biblical phrase from Isaiah 11:6 - "A child will lead them", the meeting will reflect on aspects of communion and unity in the social undertaking of christians.

- Christian educators meet in Rio Grande do Sul.

The educational practices of the churches and ecumenical organizations was the theme of a continental consultation which the Latin American Evangelical Commission for Christian Education (Comissao Evangelica Latina-Americana de Educacao Crista - CELADEC) promoted in Sao Leopoldo, State of Rio Grande do Sul during the second week of July. 70 educators from 16 Latin American countries and the Caribbean region participated. According to Melvin Jimenez, continental coordinator of CELADEC "the ending of 500 years of christian presence in Latin America, with the entire burden of oppression-liberation-education which this implies, challenges us to evaluate and surpass our own conceptions and practices of christian education".

- Colombo's light house criticized for its high cost

The building of Colombo's light house, in Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic), to commemorate the 500 years of the conquest of Latin America and the fourth conference of the catholic bishops of the continent in October, is being criticized in Latin American and European ecumenical sectors. The Dominican government has spent US $18 million just to build the light house. In a poor country where the poverty of the workers is found side by side with the marginalization of the Haitian immigrants, the needless expenses in Santo Domingo have caused caused generalized criticism.

- Housing: Theme of the Fraternity Campaign/1993 (Campanha da Fraternidade) of 1993.

The National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) has already chosen the theme of the Fraternity Campaign for Lent of next year. It is, "Fraternity and Housing", with the motto "Where do you live?". The poster chosen for the campaign was prepared by the students of Publicity in the Catholic University of Campinas.

- Diocese of Registro will promote in August its Fourth Land Pilgrimage.

The diocese of Registro, located in the Vale do Ribeira, one of the poorest regions of the state of Sao Paulo, will promote next August 23, its Fourth Land Pilgrimage (Romaria da Terra). The theme will be "500 years: The people of God resist and renew their hope for the land", with the motto "Land, hope and life". The pilgrimage will take place in Abobral alongside the River Ribeira de Iguape, municipality of Eldorado Paulista, 8 kms. from the municipal headquarters. The bishop of Registro who is also president of the Indigenous Missionary Council (Conselho Indigenista Missionario-CIMI), Bishop Apparecido Jose Dias, will take part in the celebration.

- Catholic radio organization will hold assembly about the new evangelization.

The Catholic Broadcasting Union (Uniao de Radiodifusao Catolica - UNDA) will hold its sixth general assembly in Sao Paulo, from November 18 to 22 of this year. The theme will be "New evangelization and communication in the light of Santo Domingo". The theme message will be presented by Bishop Ivo Lorsheiter, bishop of Santa Maria, State of Rio Grande do Sul. Bishop Lorscheiter is responsible for Social Communication in the CNBB.

- The Paulinas, Sinodal and CEDI publishing houses launch a collection about the 500 years.

"500 years of invasion, 500 years of resistance" is the title of the collection which the Paulinas and Sinodal publishing houses and the Ecumenical Center of Documentation and Information (Centro Ecumenico de Documentacao e Informacao - CEDI) will launch soon in Sao Paulo, as reflection material for the fifth century of the Latin American conquest. The coordinator of the collection is pastor Roberto Zwetch from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brazil (Igreja Evangelica de Confissao Luterana no Brasil - IECLB). With 16 texts written by catholic and evangelical authors both religious and lay, in a multidisciplinary form, the collection has amongst others, the following chapter titles: "Present consequences of the European invasion in Latin America"; "500 years of evangelization: the suppressed history"; "Culture, history, alliance: the resistance of indigenous people"; "500 years of the conquest of America from the indian perspective"; "Enough of suffering! The struggle for resistance of the indigenous peoples of Brazil"; "The 500 years and the press"; "The senseless way of the neocolonizers vision" and "The evangelization of the world according to Luiz Vaz de Camoes".

The annexes include, amongst others, the documents "The 500 years' celebration we want"; "Letter to the God of Life"; "The churches and the 500 years - Manifesto of CONIC"; "The indian mask of God" (COMIN/IECLB); "Letter from the indigenous peoples of Brazil to Pope John Paul 2 "; "Message to communities of the IECLB"; "The Methodist Church and the 500 years of America"; besides other statements about the theme made by CLAI and during ECO-92.

ECOLOGY

- SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation (SOS Mata Atlantica) publishes atlas of ecosystem.

The SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation has just prepared an atlas of the evolution of what remains of forests and ecosystems in the Atlantic Forest System in the State of Sao Paulo for the period between 1985 and 1990. The text is a survey of the interpretation of images of the satellite Landsat TM on the scale of 1:250.00. The results were computerized and examined by the System of Geographical Information (Sistema de Informacoes Geograficas) and show an evolution in the degradation and the regeneration of forest formations, mangrove swamps and remainder of the forests in the State of Sao Paulo during the years between 1985 and 1990.

According to Joao Paulo Capobianco, superintendent of the SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation, this work "will be of great help in the activities of conservation of the Atlantic Forest, because it permits society to have a precise system of monitoring the process of environmental degradation of the State of Sao Paulo".

The State Secretariat of the Environment and the SOS Atlantic Forest Foundation signed an agreement on July 06 as well as two terms of technical cooperation for preparing together the Action Plan for the Jacupiranga State Park and for the Cardoso Island State Park. Governor Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho was present at the ceremony. Further information may be received by phoning (011) 887-1175.

The study prepared by the so called Parallel Government of the Workers Party (PT) entitled "A Proposal for the Amazon" and signed by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Aziz Nacib Ab'Saber is still having repercussions amongst ecologists. The study proposes to unite "ecological protection and development and maintenance of the forest". It outlines a list of integrated actions to preserve, conserve, to develop alternatives and guarantee a new standard of economic and social development capable of serving all the Brazilians of the Amazon as well as all Latin Americans living in the huge extensions of the Amazonian frontiers. Further information can be obtained by phoning (011) 887-1195.

RACISM

- Negroes publish a "Treaty against Racism".

The National Coordination of Negro Entities (Coordinacao Nacional de Entidades Negras) released a document entitled "Treaty against Racism". It was prepared by a number of representatives of organizations present at the Global Forum in Rio de janeiro between June 01 and 15. According to Eufrazio Felix Ferreira do Nascimento, who is a representative of the negro grassroots movements on the Committee for the Continental Campaign of the 500 Years of Indigenous, Negro and Grassroots Resistance, "the press gave little attention to the document because society has little understanding of the fact that racism is a form of ethnic, social and economic oppression".

Those who signed the Treaty request that "the inherent value and the equality of peoples" be recognized as well as the fact that at the moment racism "negatively impacts and affects all peoples".

Representatives of organizations present in the Global Forum for the signing of the Treaty undertook to struggle against developmental racism, against the imposition of eurocentric models of development and in favor of a new technological and scientific ethic in which biodiversity would be considered as part of the patrimony of humanity. For further information call (011) 255-9992.

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