Number 382, January 7, 2000.
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In this week's issue:
>NEWS BRIEFS
- Gap between rich and poor widen in Latin America widens.
- Study shows that land occupations are effective means of land reform
- Congress signs international accord against child labor
- Flooding causes death and destruction in Southeast
>ECONOMIC ISSUES
- Economic Alternatives, by Angelica Mortel (first of two part series)
NEWS BRIEFS
- Gap between rich and poor widen in Latin America widens.
Latin American bishops who visited Germany last week painted a bleak picture of life in their own region. The Archbishop of Aparecida in Brazil, Cardinal Aloisio Lorscheider, sounded especially pessimistic when he told reporters that, despite a church campaign for social justice stretching back at least 20 years, the country's problems had worsened. The gap between rich and poor was growing even wider, while unemployment, drug-abuse and violence were higher than ever. "The mortality rate of our young people is 50 times higher than in the United States. And in the last 15 years, 70 percent of all deaths in the 15-24 age group have resulted from violence," said Lorscheider. He went on to accuse the Brazilian Government of failing to spend enough on education, and warned that literacy rates were lower now than in the late 1970's. A similar picture was painted by Archbishop Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga of Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital... His call for further Third World debt relief was echoed by Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini of San Marcos in Guatemala...
Source: The Tablet
December 19, 1999
- Study shows that land occupations are effective means of land reform
In his doctoral thesis recently approved by the University of Sao Paulo (one of Brazil’s most prestigious universities), Bernardo Mancano Fernandes demonstrated that "invasion" of land by such groups as the MST (Movement of rural workers Without Land) is a very effective means of land reform. Of the 299,323 families settled during President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s administration, 256,467 (85.6%) gained their land through "invasion" or occupation. According to Fernandes, the principle merit of his research is that it demonstrates that there is an alternative to gain access to land: "Before, there was only the buying and selling of land. Today, there is occupation," said Fernandes. Besides this, Fernandes said his research shows that the Cardoso government really does not have an agrarian reform policy. "What FHC does have is a settlement policy. But this does not necessarily mean that he has agrarian reform policies." In other words, this government tends to dole out land and grant titles only after the area in question has already been invaded. Another point of interest in the report is the increase of occupations during the Cardoso administration. Between the years 1988 and 1994, there were on average 79 occupations per year. In the first year of Cardoso’s presidency, the number jumped to 146; in 96, there were 398, in 97, 463, and in 98, 599 occupations. There was also an increase in the number of popular organization whose objective is to struggle for land. Of the 25 organizations currently operating in the country, 21 were created since 1995. There are at least two possible explanations for these increases. The government’s explanation is that the rural workers know that the Cardoso administration is more sympathetic and supportive of land reform than previous administrations. Fernandes does not disregard this explanation, but says another motive may very well be the increase of unemployment in the Cardoso years, forcing more and more people to seek out land in order to eke out an existence. Finally, though the MST receives much attention nationally and internationally, Fernandes study shows that only 37% of land occupations from January of 1996 to May of 1999 were connected to the MST.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
January 2, 1999
- Congress signs international accord against child labor
Before holiday break, the Brazilian Congress signed an accord designed by the International Organization of Labor (OIT) that puts an end to child labor. The agreement now only needs to be signed by the President and sent to Geneva. One of the obstacles of the signing of the accord was an article which stipulated that 16 years of age would be the minimum age at which a youth could begin to work, with apprenticeships starting at age 15. The law in Brazil was previously that youths could begin to work at age 14. With the signing, that law now changes. The accord also outlaws forms of forced labor, trafficking of children, and recruitment of children for prostitution and pornography. Armand Pereira, director of the OIT of Brazil, affirmed that Brazil is becoming more and more involved in the elimination of child labor, though his offices still received complaints from the Northeast of the country. The approval of the convention will make it easier to apply the law and penalize those who commit infractions.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
January 3, 1999
- Flooding causes death and destruction in Southeast
Since the beginning of the new year, intense rains have caused much destruction in the states of Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, and Sao Paulo. So far, there have been 34 deaths caused by flooding, and 98,600 people are now homeless. Several cities in these states have been declared federal disaster areas. At times, the major road arteries between the three state capitals were closed for hours at a time, causing major traffic delays. Some cities have been completely immersed in water with depths of up to 1.6 meters. The intense rains have subsided for now, but during this season, afternoon storms are quite common and could bring on more flooding.
Source: Folha de Sao Paulo
January 7, 1999
ECONOMIC ISSUES
- Economic Alternatives, by Angelica Mortel (first of two part series)
NAPES/PES - Nucleus of Action and Study on Economy of Solidarity/ Economy of Solidarity Project
NAPES began in March 1997 as a discussion among university students living in Brasilândia, which is situated in the northwest region of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. These students, many of them involved in popular movements, pastoral work and political parties, came together to brainstorm local level solutions to the problem of unemployment. Much of the previous discussion about unemployment only offered macro level solutions. In metropolitan São Paulo, more than 1.8 million people are unemployed and several thousands more are underemployed. Brasilândia has a population of approximately 1.2 million inhabitants, many of whom have at least one person in their household who is unemployed.
In its own words, "NAPES seeks to create and assist viable alternatives that bring together unemployed and underemployed citizens in remunerated and prosperous activities. They seek to establish networks of cooperation between workers and encourage a culture of economic solidarity." NAPES achieves this through research on economic alternatives, through courses, conferences and seminars on an economy of solidarity, and through the Economy of Solidarity Project in Brasilândia.
PES (Projeto Economia de Solidariedade - Economy of Solidarity Project) was one of NAPES’ first initiatives in Brasilândia. The project arose from a survey done by NAPES of income generation projects in the region. They looked specifically at projects that had received financial assistance from Cáritas. NAPES found that many of the Cáritas projects did not survive to the point of self-sufficiency. Cáritas offers start-up capital to projects, but doesn’t have the capacity to accompany the projects with technical assistance. This proved to be detrimental to many of the projects whose participants often had no training in administration, finance, production, commercialization, marketing, etc.. Oftentimes, projects operated in isolation and didn’t exchange valuable experiences or helpful knowledge with other income generation projects in the region.
NAPES met with some of the Cáritas funded groups who were still in operation and proposed that they come together to form a network. This network became known as PES. NAPES proposed that working within a network would offer the projects many advantages. For one, they can meet to exchange experiences and learn from each other. Secondly, they can purchase goods and services collectively, thus lowering costs. For example, they can buy raw materials in bulk and they can contract delivery services for use by several groups in the network. Thirdly, as a network, they can share the cost of technical assistance and basic formation - seeking out courses or seminars on administration, production and quality that can be offered to the network as a whole. Also, many groups have difficulties forming a system of sales and administration and the cost of maintaining a system of sales is high. The question of commercialization is key for all groups. In a network, they can share channels of commercialization, looking for privileged spaces to sell products of the network. Within the network, they also have the advantage of accessibility to cooperative credit.
PES is currently formed by 11 entities (cooperatives and associations) whose common characteristic is generation of work and income. (See report on Artecom Association for an example of an income generation project that participates in PES.) NAPES accompanies these entities by providing initial orientation/formation, coordination and technical assistance. The network includes entities that produce handicrafts, clothes, and baked goods, and that offer recycling services and child care. The majority of PES participants are low income women. To join the network, a project must meet three conditions: they have to want to be involved in an economy of solidarity; they have to be economically viable within a culture of solidarity; and be autonomous, but linked in solidarity. Economy of solidarity, as defined by NAPES, involves "democratization of the possession and control of the goods of production and also the distribution of the goods of consumption" It is a proposal of economic organization that does away with the idea of separate, isolated groups. An economy of solidarity implies the valuing of solidarity in production and consumption, "in a collectivist and democratizing orientation." Two important characteristics of PES is that it works against unemployment and it promotes another model of economic development. This alternative model is not based on competition, but on solidarity. The neoliberal proposal is competition which results in the end of the other.
PES has encountered both successes and obstacles. One major success is the gradual shift in participants’ attitudes toward solidarity. From experience, they’ve seen how much stronger they’ve been able to grow economically by working together - sharing both resources and experiences. They’ve learned to really work in partnership with each other and with NAPES. It took a while to overcome mistrust and convince groups of the idea of an economy of solidarity, but as one NAPES’ member told me, "each day trust grows and partnerships become stronger."
The main obstacle for PES has been an inability to grow. Part of this problem is due to NAPES’ lack of financial resources. They would like to work with more income generation groups, but all of the members of NAPES are volunteers, most of whom hold full-time jobs. With more financial resources, they could pay a salary to one or two of their members to work more intensively with PES entities and to seek out other groups for the network. They would also have the time and resources to seek out more partnerships, for technical assistance or formation, that could benefit the network.
As far as government policies or programs that would help NAPES, PES and an Economy of Solidarity, a NAPES member highlighted two: 1) any kind of incentive policy/program, be it credit or start-up capital, that would encourage the creation of more income generation undertakings; and 2) development of income generation projects that start with the reality at the local level and that are intricately connected to existing struggles or groups. International partnerships could also benefit NAPES/PES with financial or technical assistance and with networks of commercialization. The challenges with international networks of commercialization, which would imply exporting goods, are the need for a formal legal structure and a higher level of production (which in turn would mean a need for more participating groups).
To find out more about NAPES, check out their webpage: http://www.terravista.pt/enseada/1971
(Most of the information is in Portuguese, but some is in English)
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