Number 383, January 14, 2000.

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In this week's issue:

>NEWS BRIEFS

- Government wants indigenous out of national park

- Federal Police express concern over U.S. marines in Peru

- Police violence most common form of human rights abuse

- Landless workers protest in Recife

>ECONOMIC ISSUES

- Economic Alternatives, by Angelica Mortel (second of two part series)

NEWS BRIEFS

- Workers’ Party representative disappointed at Seattle WTO meeting

A representative of the Workers’ Party, Luci Choinacki, who traveled to Seattle to attend the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle, returned to Brazil very disappointed. "Once more, the interests of the world’s great powers were protected," said Choinacki. In the area of agricultural concerns, one of the principal areas of disagreement among nations, the world powers were able to maintain their protectionist positions. According to Choinacki, Brazil’s complaints were completely ignored. She was especially disappointed that Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Pratini de Moraes, did not broach the issue of genetically-altered crops, leaving it clear that Brazil will be ready to bend to the interests of North American companies and clear the way for the importation of these products. Right now, it is against the law to plant such crops; however, these North American seeds are finding their way into Brazilian soil.

Source: Observatore

December 15, 1999

- Government wants indigenous out of national park

Last year, a group of indigenous, the Pataxo, reclaimed and are occupying ancestral lands in the Monte Pascoal National Park. Recently, a federal judge ruled that the park is federal territory and authorized Ibama (the Brazilian environmental protection agency) to retake possession of the lands. A date for the expulsion of the indigenous has not yet been set, but the indigenous have committed themselves to resist, claiming that for them the land is sacred. "We will not accept any decision or proposal that would have us leave our ancestral grounds," said a spokesperson for the tribe. "The decision against the Pataxo, even though we are on the eve of the celebration of the so-called ‘500 years of the discovery of Brazil,’ shows that the Brazilian government wants to continue its policy of crushing the indigenous people and disrespecting their right to return to their traditional territories," said Katia Vasco, a member of Cimi (Indianist Missionary Council).

Source: Poratim

December 1999

- Federal Police express concern over U.S. marines in Peru

The Brazilian Federal Police has expressed concern about the presence of U.S. marines in the city of Iquitos, 150 kilometers from the Brazilian border. Nearly 100 marines have been sent to the city to open a military school allegedly aimed at controlling drug trafficking in the area. The U.S. military has already invested US$78 million in the school. The Federal Police believes the school pressures Latin American countries to militarize the campaign against drugs. They also believe that this is a way for the United States to impose their control over the region.

Source: Folha de Sao Paulo

January 9, 2000

- Police violence most common form of human rights abuse

A study released by the University of Sao Paulo revealed that police violence is the most common form of human rights abuse in Brazil. Among the 45 stories cited by the "First National Study of Human Rights" as having the biggest repercussions, 27 involved police in cases of torture, murder and group exterminations. These cases mostly involve disputes over land in the Northeast of the country, political quarrels, and those involving slave labor. "One general characteristic is simply the malfunctioning of all police institutions," commented Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, one of the coordinators of the study. To gather information, the researchers used journals and reports from national conferences of human rights, and documents from the Brazilian Catholic Church’s Land Commission and the Indianist Missionary Council.

Source: Folha de Sao Paulo

January 12, 2000

- Landless workers protest in Recife

A group of 500 workers linked to the MST (Movement of rural workers Without Land) blockaded a major highway in the metropolitan area of Recife, Pernambuco. The protest was a reaction to recent violence which happened in a settlement site. Ninety-five families were evicted from their shacks by a group of armed men, who the families claimed were hired by the owner of a sugarcane factory. "They shot up the camp, put a gun in my ear and said they were going to kill me," said Genivaldo Gomes da Silva, the coordinator of the settlement site.

Source: Folha de Sao Paulo

January 12, 2000

ECONOMIC ISSUES

- Economic Alternatives, by Angelica Mortel (second of two part series)

Artecom Association - Jardim Recanto, Brasilãndia - São Paulo

Artecom began as a project of a small church community - São Benedito - which is located in Jardim Recanto on the Northwest periphery of the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Several people living in the neighborhood of Jardim Recanto were concerned about the number of children and adolescents who literally hang out in the streets with nothing to do. The lack of playgrounds, parks, community centers and activities, which is generally the situation of areas on the periphery of the city, leave children and adolescents with not many options for recreation. Oftentimes, this has lead many to drug trafficking or violence in general.

In 1987, a Canadian woman religious, Sr. Rachel Vinette, in conjunction with the São Benedito community, began to work with youth from 8-12 years old. As an "option to the streets," she invited youth to learn woodworking. Each day groups of 45-55 youth would meet in a small garage that would become São Benedito’s worship space on Sundays. In addition to offering skills in woodworking, the classes were a time for the youth to build friendships, develop their potential, discover their personal value and the value of work. At this time, the project was supported financially by donations from the community, profits from bake sales and used clothing bazaars and the help of four volunteers, one being a professional woodworker who would cut the wood pieces used in the classes.

By 1995, many of the youth were producing quality woodwork. At the same time, the level of unemployment among youth was climbing in São Paulo. In most low income families that live on the periphery of São Paulo, young people must work as well as the parents to maintain the family. Sr. Rachel, the volunteers and several adolescents decided to form a "pre-cooperative." They wanted to produce and sell wooden pedagogical toys and puzzles. They worked with a total of 55 adolescents from 11-18 years old, 40 being apprentices and 15 being members of the production team. In the pre-cooperative, the 15 members would receive a per piece profit for each of their products that was sold. They were able to make some extra money to help support their families and, as Sr. Rachel confirms, the extra earnings also lessened many of the youths’ temptation to sell drugs. The pre-cooperative received start-up funds and some formation from Caritas. They were able to sell their products at various community fairs.

Also at this time a group of women in Jardim Recanto started a course in weaving which had the objective of eventually forming an income and work generation project.

In July of 1998, Artecom Association was "born." It is an association with the spirit of a cooperative. As outlined in their mission, "Artecom’s objective is to promote income generation for young people between the ages of 14 and 18 and for adults, especially women." The group decided to form a more structured entity with the hopes of involving more youth and women in the project, bettering the quality of their products and improving their sales by expanding their markets and formalizing their system of sales. Artecom’s objectives are not only to generate income and work for youth, but also to generate enough income to become self-sufficient and to invest in educational projects to teach art to children and adolescents. Since its start as a pre-cooperative, Artecom has had to discontinue its work with children and art education. Eventually, with the earnings from the current project, they hope to go back to this work.

Currently, all members of Artecom receive a salary. The members include 15 young people who form the production group and 4 adults who give administrative support. There are also 30 young apprentices who are learning more about woodworking and 5 young apprentices who will eventually enter the production group. The production group has a defined work schedule of four hours a day and to participate in the group one must be enrolled and attending school regularly. All members meet at least once a month to plan and do an evaluation. Any profits made by the group are shared equally among the group. Each member is responsible for the progress of the project.

One characteristic that makes Artecom Association different from many other income generation projects in the region is that it operates under the principals of an economy of solidarity. In Artecom’s own words, they say "Artecom seeks, in all of its activities, to remain faithful to the principals of an economy of solidarity: equality and democracy. Equality - the undertaking is not the property of only one or few owners. Democracy - all involved persons participate directly in the decision-making processes."

Artecom is part of the Solidarity Network of NAPES/PES (see report written on PES in News from Brazil, No. 382). They have the conviction "that union with other groups, in the struggle to form an economy of solidarity, is the way to recapture the dignity of work and of workers. And for young people it is a very positive experience: to perceive the range of possibilities, to develop responsibility and to have an experience of working as part of a team." Also important is that youth see that there exists a viable alternative to the neoliberal model that excludes millions of people, including many of them, from a life and work with dignity. Sr. Rachel believes, "an economy of solidarity is the response to Brazil’s and the world’s social difficulties. It no longer works to live in competition."

In its attempts to work within a culture of solidarity, Artecom has experienced both successes and obstacles. Many of the positive aspects for the members within Artecom have been outlined above. The positive side of Artecom working within a network like PES is that their project is strengthened by their participation. Sr. Rachel says that psychologically speaking they don’t "feel alone" in their experiences. The Network meets once a month to share experiences. Within the Network, they also share necessities, including materials and human resources. For example, when Artecom can’t find someone to sell their products at their table at a community fair, they can count on someone from another group to sell their products thus they don’t lose the sales opportunity. Also, they exchange products within the Network - for example, Artecom uses garbage bags that another group produces, while other groups acquire Artecom’s products as gifts.

As far as challenges go, within Artecom and within the Solidarity Network, it has been difficult driving home the idea that working in solidarity helps everyone in the end. For most people, who are not accustomed to working in solidarity or within a team, it is oftentimes hard to put aside individual desires for the good of the group and to see that in the end "sharing" will profit everyone. Also a challenge for Artecom and the Network is conscientizing the general public of the value of an economy of solidarity.

Government policies or programs that could help Artecom’s economic efforts flourish would include credit programs for income generation projects and possibly the support of forums that promote the idea of an economy of solidarity. An already existing example of a system of popular credit in Brazil is the "Bank of the People," which is an initiative of the mayor’s office of Porto Alegre in the state of Rio Grande de Sul.

Also helpful for Artecom would be the promotion of forums that conscientize the general public of the benefits of an economy of solidarity. Many good examples of an economy of solidarity in practice already exist in Brazil, including the agro-industrial cooperatives of the Landless Movement (MST); the small businesses of ANTEAG (National Association of Workers in Self-Administrated Businesses) which brought together 40 firms on the verge of bankruptcy and which are currently owned and operated by the workers themselves; exchange clubs, which exist in the city of São Paulo and in other countries like Argentina, Canada and the U.S., that exchange services and merchandise instead of hard currency; and the several community income and work generation projects of churches and neighborhood associations that exist all over Brazil, especially the strong organization between churches, universities and public powers in the state of Rio Grande de Sul where a regular forum already meets to discuss issues around an economy of solidarity. To hold forums or encourage forums that would lift up these examples and the issues, could help Artecom in not only the exchange of experiences and information, but also in the possibility of forming a larger coalition of groups involved with the economy of solidarity or even a larger network of solidarity to exchange and sell goods.

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