Number 39, July 23, 1992.

NATIONAL POLITICS

- Public manifestation in favor of ethics in politics.

Just as a vigil for ethics in politics took place in Brasilia on June 23, a public manifestation in favor of ethics in politics took place in Sao Paulo on July 13. The event took place in the center of the city, in the Law School in the Largo Sao Francisco and was promoted by a number of well known organizations and entities in Brazilian society including the Lawyers Organization (OAB); the Sole Workers' Congress (CUT); the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) and many others.

- "What we ask for is a clarification of the facts".

With these words, Jair Meneguelli of the Sole Workers' Congress (CUT) echoed what the majority of Brazilians expect from the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (Comissao Parlamentar de Inquerito - CPI) which is examining the activities of business-person Paulo Cesar Farias and which is scheduled to end its activities by August 11. The above statement was made by Meneguelli at the Act for Ethics in Politics which took place in Sao Paulo on July 13. Commenting on the statement of President Fernando Collor that the country is a victim of the "coup d'etat trade union", Meneguelli was clear: "coup d'etat is not to pay the 147% to the retired, coup d'etat is the attempt to finish with the workers' pension fund, coup d'etat is the attempt to offer pensions only at 65 years of age". Francisco Caninde Pegado of the General Confederation of Workers (Confederacao Geral dos Trabalhadores -CGT) stressed that "grassroots pressure could topple the president".

Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, cardinal archbishop of Sao Paulo remembered the viewpoint of the bishops of the State of Sao Paulo who " request the participation of the citizens in politics to overcome the contrast between luxury and poverty". Jose Roberto Batochio, president of the OAB of Sao Paulo claimed that the impeachment of the President of the Republic would not provoke a crisis for the institutions of state and Lindenberg Farias, president of the National Union of Students (Uniao Nacional dos Estudantes - UNE) affirmed that "a country whose president is the most corrupt (citizen) could not have a future".

HUMAN RIGHTS

- Movement is receiving indications for the National Prize for Human Rights.

The National Movement for Human Rights (Movimento Nacional de Direitos Humanos - MNDH) whose headquarters are in Brasilia, has been receiving indications since June 01 for the National Prize for Human Rights (Premio Nacional de Direitos Humanos) for 1992. Indications may be offered until September 30. After this date a group from the national council and the executive secretariat of the MNDH will pick the person who will receive the statue which symbolizes the prize and which was sculptured by artist Elifas Andreatto; the award ceremony will take place on December 10.

The decision to open to public opinion the indications for this prize was taken on May 03 last during a meeting of the national council of the MNDH which took place in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo, State of Sao Paulo. In former years the choice of winner was restricted to active participants in the MNDH and to entities affiliated to it. With the new method of choosing a winner, the MNDH hopes to encourage interest in civil society for the promotion and defense of human rights.

Former prize winners include Dom Paulo Evaristo Arns, cardinal archbishop of Sao Paulo; Dom Pedro Casaldaliga, bishop of Sao Felix de Araguaia; federal deputy and evangelical leader Benedita Silva (Workers' Party - PT - Rio de Janeiro); the Yanomami indians; the Metalworkers Trade Union of Volta Redunda; tradeunionist Maria Aparecida from the State of Minas Gerais; rural leader Luiz Vila Nova from the State of Maranhao and Franciscan theologian, Leonardo Boff.

RURAL WORKERS

- CPT launches a weekly bulletin.

The Pastoral Land Commission (Comissao Pastoral da Terra - CPT) whose headquarters are in Goiania, State of Goias, has begun publishing weekly bulletins called "Land News" ("Noticias da Terra") dealing with the agrarian situation in the country. In its second edition, it presents an analysis of the lack of political will power of the government organs to resolve the social problems which afflict rural people. This same kind of analysis was also made in the Final Report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry Regarding Rural Violence. According to this analysis, the state is not only a partner in this process but also actively promotes the violence.

According to the CPT, Law Project Number 11 which regularizes articles 184, 185 and 186 of the Federal Constitution and which was approved on June 26 last by the Chamber of Deputies, shows that from the time of the preparation of the Constitution until today, the ranchers and their representatives blocked agrarian reform. "Even though the Law Project approved by the Chamber of Deputies (it has yet to pass in the Senate and be signed by the President) may signify a political victory for the progressive sectors, we believe after having carried out an initial study that it opens minimum possibilities for the implementation of a project of agrarian reform".

The address of the national offices of the Comissao Pastoral da Terra is: Caixa Postal 749, 74.000 Goiania, GO. Phone (62) 224-4436 and fax (62) 225-4967.

URBAN WORKERS

- Workers unite to discuss changes.

Cooperation between trade unions of the same category is fundamental so that workers may directly have a voice in agreements of integration and in the process of industrial restructering. This was one of the principal conclusions of the 5th. Latin American Conference of Workers in the Automobile Industry (5a. Conferencia Latino-Americana dos Trabalhadores da Industria Automobilista) which ended in Sao Bernardo dos Campos on July 10.

"Apart from debating the realities of the workers in Latin America, the conference showed that Brazilian salaries are the smallest as are also our social possibilities" commented the president of the National Confederation of Metalworkers (Confederacao Nacional dos Metalurgicos) of CUT, Heiguiberto Della Bella Navarro (popularly known as Guiba). Members from the CGT and Forca Sindical congresses of trade unions also participated in the meeting. In all, there were 73 delegates from nine countries present as well as observers from the United States, Canada and Italy.

Even though there were some disagreements, the conference arrived at a consensus regarding the preoccupation with changes which have taken place in companies and have caused a reduction of jobs and a loss of rights already conquered. In analysis made until this point in time, Latin America appears as a promising market in contrast to other regions. Here, sales increased from 1,7 million in 1990 to 2 million units in 1991. At the same time, the world level of vehicle sales decreased from 48,8 million to 47,2 million during the same period. The workers want to participate in this expansion remembering that until this point in time they have suffered the process of "modernization" introduced by the firms.

- Trade unions begin to discuss piece work.

Easier production management, smaller indirect costs and the weakening of the trade union movement - these are basically the objectives of piece work (the transferral of parts of production to other smaller firms); this process has been on the increase in many Brazilian companies. According to Mario Sergio Salerno, a technician with Diesse, strategists associate the size of firms with trade union mobility. A statistic from the beginning of the 1970s showed that 50% of the strikes in England occurred in factories with more than five thousand workers. 10% of strikes occurred in firms with less than 400 workers.

The first step in piece work is called focalization; this is the identification of the activities which differentiate the firm. Tradeunionists claim that this process already affects sectors linked to production. The process has started to be discussed with more intensity by the workers who on their part are trying to negotiate with the firms since until this point in time this process has brought negative results such as the decrease in the number of jobs.

- Trade union prepares Land Vigil.

Following the Vigil against Recession which took place last December, the Metalworkers Trade Union of Sao Bernardo and Diadema is organizing a Land Vigil (Vigilia pela Terra) on July 24. The slogan of the vigil is "without agrarian reform, there is no land and there are no vacancies". The objective is to show that the rural question affects directly urban workers.

Apart from the trade union, other promoters of the vigil include the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais sem Terra - MST), CUT, the agrarian secretariat of the Workers' Party (PT) and the so called "Parallel Government" also of PT. Those expected to take part in the event include the national president of PT, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva; the president of the PPS (former PCB) party, Roberto Freire; senator Mario Covas; the national vice president of CUT, Avelino Ganzer; well known Brazilian sociologist Herbert de Souza (Betinho); Frei Betto; representatives of the workers' pastoral as well as deputies, artists, popular singers, representatives of indigenous communities and entities representing civil society.

According to the document prepared by the Parallel Government of PT regarding agrarian reform, of the 5 million rural property owners in the country, 46 thousand own 162 million hectares which represents almost half of the usable land. Between 1964 and 1991, 1647 people were killed as a result of rural violence.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

- Parliament studies Law Project concerning mining in indigenous lands.

Law Project number 3061/92 which deals with mining in indigenous lands and which was prepared by Deputy Tuga Angerami (of the PSDB party of Sao Paulo) has been presented in parliament. With this Law Project, Angerami who presides the Commission of Consumers' Defense, Environment and Minorities in the House of Deputies, hopes to regularize paragraphs 1 of article 176 and 3 of article 231 of the Federal Constitution. These paragraphs establish that special conditions should be set by law for the development of surveying and mining in indigenous lands and that such activities should be authorized by the National Congress.

The project proposes a system of procedure to be adopted in order to obtain authorization for mining as well as the manner in which Congress would authorize such activities. It outlines as well the manner in which Congress will hear the viewpoint of the indigenous communities affected and the manner in which such communities will participate in the returns from the mining activity.

The project proposes that the request for surveying and mining be put to auction and it establishes as a criteria the choosing of the proposal which best protects the environment and the indigenous communities as well as being the best proposal from the technical point of view and for the economic use of the minerals.

According to Deputy Angerami "the project takes into consideration the cautions demanded by the Federal Constitution for the development of mining activity in indigenous land and maintains the principles of protection and respect for the indigenous peoples".

CHURCHES

- Methodist pastors will have a national meeting in September.

Pastors of the Methodist Church will participate between September 21 and 25 in a national meeting promoted by this Church. The meeting will take place in Sao Paulo and the theme is "What it means to be a pastor in a Church of gifts and ministries".

- Mercosul will be the theme of a consultation in November.

The socio-political and economic meaning of the South American Common Market (Mercado Comum Sul-Americano - Mercosul) will be the theme of a consultation of the Christian Churches of Brazil and the River Plate which the Latin American Council of Churches (Conselho Latino-Americano de Igrejas - CLAI) will promote in Porto Alegre, State of Rio Grande do Sul between November 25 and 28 of this year. The consultation will have the support of the World Council of Churches.

- The cultural invasion of Latin America continues, says WACC.

"The colonial aggression against Latin America continues 500 years after the conquest under other forms". This statement is made in the final document of a meeting held by the directory of the World Association for Christian Communication (WACC) in Quito, Equador. The new domination includes the penetration of North American television in the public opinion of the continent, the filtering of news carried out by the large international news agencies and the imposition of economic models forced upon poor countries by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

- Judge responsible for the Edir Macedo case is suffering pressures from the the judicature.

Judge Carlos Henrique Abrao, who ordered the detention of "bishop" Edir Macedo, owner of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus) last month, was removed earlier than expected from his position as judge in the Criminal Forum of Sao Paulo; he had been replacing the judge who was on vacation. He had been suffering considerable pressure after he had decided to accept several of the prosecutor's arguments accusing Macedo of being guilty of crimes of cheating, charlatanism and quackery. The pressures, according to sources of the judicature, were coming from superior sources in Sao Paulo. One section of the Justice Tribunal which should have been on vacation during this period of the year, was working exclusively to accompany the Edir Macedo case.

Macedo is being defended by lawyer Marcio Thomas Bastos who is a former president of the Federal Council of the OAB (the Brazilian lawyers' organization). However the accusations against the "bishop" are serious and grave accusations have also been registered against him and his aides in court, all of this even in a context of pressures in Macedo's favor from within the judicature. One of the prosecutors in the case has already proposed to the Court that the temples of this group be closed in Sao Paulo.

- The repercussion following Leonardo Boff's leaving continue in official sectors of the Catholic Church.

Swiss theologian Hans Kung, professor of the University of Tubingem, said he is "deeply distressed" with Leonardo Boff's decision to leave officially the Catholic priesthood. In an interview with the Swiss agency APIC, Kung who also lost his chair of theology after doctrinal divergences with the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, said that the Roman Curia " does not burn people any more physically at the stake, but psychologically, through procedures used during years with constant authoritarian pressure". Already, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State of the Vatican, had compared Boff to Judas. In a interview in Sevilha, Spain, during the Holy See Day in the Universal Exhibition/92, Sodano said that "amongst several loyal apostles, there is always one who abandons the Lord".

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY

- Forum of Solidarity opens a conference in the Alternex Network.

With the objective of disseminating alternative information and news about the Cuban reality and about the movement of solidarity for Cuba in Brazil, the Forum of Solidarity with Cuba (Forum de Solidariedade a Cuba) has opened an electronic conference in the Alternex Network. This Forum is a grouping which congregates various entities of civil society of the State of Sao Paulo committed to the effort of solidarity with Cuba. According to Reinaldo Cue, one of the members of Forum, "the conference is open to the participation of social organizations and sectors of the press who express solidarity with these proposals". In order to read the texts of the conference, copy the messages or include new information, individuals and entities connected to the APC network can access the conference by using the code "for.brascuba".

The interview given by Fidel Castro to Tomas Borge, published in the newspaper "The Guardian", from Manchester - England, is one of the main texts which is already available for the users of the conference for.brascuba. During the interview, Fidel answers questions concerning topics such as the suicide of Soviet socialism, the merits and limits of Stalin, democracy, survival of the revolution, 500 years of the so-called "discovery" of America, homosexuality, the retirement of politicians at 60 years of age and also about his literary, poetic and musical preferences.

Concerning democracy, Fidel emphasizes that "it means the defense of all the citizen's rights, including the right of independence, liberty and national dignity and also the right to personal honor. Democracy means dignity amongst people. And I hold that the capitalist bourgeois democracy does not transmit any of these elements. What kind of equality and fraternity is there between a beggar and a millionaire? I think that our system is incomparably more democratic than any other".

The present Cuban Parliament is the last one to be elected indirectly, because from now on, all the national legislators will be elected by the secret and direct vote of the entire nation.

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