NEW FROM BRAZIL supplied by AGEN (Agencia Ecumencia de Noticias) and Servico Espiritano de Justica e Paz.

Number 44, September 10, 1992.

NATIONAL POLITCS

- Demonstrations in favor of Collor's impeachment continue.

Demonstrations in favor of the impeachment of President Fernando Collor de Mello will be held throughout the country during this month. The decision to demonstrate comes from the Movement for Ethics in Politics, the Democratic Movement Against Impunity, state governors in favor of Collor's removal, trade unions, opposition parties, and other organizations of civil society.

What could be the largest pro-impeachment demonstration will occur on September 18 in Sao Paulo. State Governor Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho and Mayor Luiza Erundina have united to support the demonstration, which is being convoked by the Movement for Ethics in Politics (which includes trade union and business leaders, opposition party members, and other organizations). The demonstration will call for the impeachment of Collor, for an open vote in Congress on impeachment, and for an end to the recession. The trade union Forca Sindical has decided to hold its own demonstration on September 11, with the support of the Federation of Industries of the State of Sao Paulo (FIESP).

The Movement for Ethics in Politics (which also includes the Brazilian Bar Association, the Brazilian Press Association, and the National Human Rights Movement) has called for a national "panelaco" (protest by banging pots and pans) on September 29. Preliminary "panelacos" will be promoted every Monday, until Congress votes on impeachment.

A poll taken by the public opinion research firm IBOPE following President Collor's August 31 radio and television address indicates that 59% of those interviewed support the definitive removal of Collor from office. 31% of the 1218 persons polled throughout the country approve of Collor remaining President. 69% said that they do not trust Collor.

President Collor "has no way out other than resigning or being removed from office" declares the Movement of People Affected by Hydroelectric Dams (MAB). The Movement is encouraging the Brazilian population to demonstrate "their discontent" in the streets, and suggests that "firm measures be taken in the construction of a just, democratic, and fraternal society."

The Brazilian Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (ABONGs) sent a telegram to congressional leaders, stating their expectation that "historical decisions" be made in light of the current crisis "that can inaugurate a new era in Brazilian political life and remove the threat of the discrediting of the democratic institutions and a deepening of the crisis of values which now affects public life and humiliates Brazilian citizens."

- Attorney General prepares charges against Collor.

Federal Attorney General Aristides Junqueira will accuse President Collor before the Federal Supreme Tribunal of committing a crime of passive corruption. As soon as the federal court receives the accusation, it will most likely request Congress for the authorization to begin a legal process against the president. If the authorization is granted, Collor will be obliged to step down while the legal process is underway.

- Current status of the impeachment process.

On September 8, Federal Deputy Ibsen Pinheiro, president of the lower house of Congress, announced the procedures to be followed in the impeachment process. A congressionional commission was chosen to examine the petition for the impeachment of President Collor. Congressional members from opposition parties make up the majority of the commission. Collor has the right to present a defense before the commission.

The commission will conclude its work by September 15, and will vote on the impeachment petition between September 17-19.

The lower house of Congress will then decide, in an open vote, whether to approve (by two-thirds majority) or reject, the opening of the impeachment process. If approved, the impeachment of President Collor will begin in the Senate, and Collor will be removed from office for up to 180 days. Pinheiro expects the vote to occur by September 25.

The Interparliamentary Pro-Impeachment Commission has decided to organize the placement of electronic placards in the nation's capitals and major cities in order that the population can follow the voting process on the petition for Collor's impeachment. Led by Federal Deputy Roseeana Sarney, daughter of former president Jose Sarney, the commission is also seeking to increase the number of federal deputies supporting impeachment, and to support civil society's denouncements of the PC Farias/Collor affair.

HUMAN RIGHTS

- Author of new report on police violence receives death threat.

Globo Television reporter Coco Barcellos has recently published a book entitled "Rota 66-The Story of Police Who Kill", which documents the killings and other acts of violence committed by police against citizens. The book focuses on the Rota division of the military police. ("Rota" stands for Tobias de Aguiar Ostensive Patrol). At a press conference marking the publication of the book on August 31, various members of the Rota were present, in an attempt to intimidate the author.

Caco Barcellos reported that he has received a phone call from a man identified as "Lieutenant Constantino", who told Barcellos that the author was "putting his life in danger". On September 2, the Brazilian Bar Association, the Journalists Union, and TV Globo officially informed Sao Paulo State Secretary of Public Security Pedro Franco de Campos of the death threat.

- Police form new espionage agency.

The 3800 delegates of the State of Sao Paulo Civl Police have decided, without the knowledge or consent of Governor Luiz Antonio Fleury Filho, to create an Information Center to spy on citizens. The Center will be based on the extinct Department of Political and Social Order (DOPS), which committed many criminal acts during the military dictatorship. DOPS was abolished in 1983 by then governor Franco Montero. The delegates' decision is a reprisal to Governor Fleury's policy on wages for civil police.

- Forms of government to be discussed.

A widespread consultation of human rights organizations throughout the country has been initiated by the Brasilia-based National Human Rights Movment (MNDH). The Movement is also encouraging its affiliates to support the organization of civil society around the April 21, 1993 national plebiscite to choose Brazil's form and system of government, and the revision of the federal Constitution, which also will occur next year.

- Farm and church workers remain in prison.

Nine farmworkers and church pastoral agents of Rio Brilhante, Mato Grosso do Sul, have been imprisoned since July 30 for stealing chickens in order to eat. On August 13, another farmworker was imprisoned under the same charges. The robbery occurred because the farmworkers and their families-all landless and camping on the land-are going without food. Four habeas corpus petitions have been made and denied. Among those imprisoned is union leader and pastoral agent Onorail Jeronimo Porto.

- Public act for the disappeared.

A public act of commitment to the continual search for those "disappeared" during the military dictatorship was held on September 4 at the City Council in Sao Paulo. The event marked the second anniversary of the opening of the clandestine graves in the Perus Cemetery in Sao Paulo, where the remains of ex-

political prisoners, killed by torture during the police-military repression, were found. A book about ex-political prisoner Emmanuel Bezerra dos Santos of Natal, Rio Grande de Norte, whose remains were recently identified by the University of Campinas, and a video about the transporting of his remains to Natal, were presented at the event. The video was produced by the Center of Human Rights and Popular Memory, of Natal.

CHURCHES

- Arns attacks corruption in the Collor government.

In his Independence Day message of September 7, Sao Paulo Archbishop Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns condemned the actions of President Collor. "To be robbed is always painful, but to be robbed by someone who promised to do away with stealing and 'maharajahs' can lead to hopelessness." Cardinal Arns' message was read in churches during the Vigils of Prayer and Fasting for Brazil promoted by the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil on September 6-7.

- CEBS assembly begins.

With the theme, "Oppressed cultures and evangelization in Latin America", the 8th Interecclesial Encounter of Base Ecclesial Communities (CEBs) began on September 8 in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul. CEB activists throughout Brazil and Latin America are participating in the Encounter, along with bishops, priests, religious, and pastoral agents.

- "People of God" assembly has Brazilian participation.

"The People of God, Life and Hope" is the theme of the first Assembly of the People of God, to be held in Quito, Ecuador, from September 14-18. One of the main goals of the Assembly, organized by 300 religious organizations and grassroots movements in Latin America and the Caribbean, is to reclaim, give value to, and celebrate the alternatives of life present in the peoples and cultures of this continent. Brazil will be represented at the assembly with 30 delegates.

- Boff publishes new letter.

The Italian newspaper "L'Unita", the journal of the Democratic Party of the Left (the former Italian Communist Party) recently published a long letter from theologian Leonardo Boff. In the letter, Boff states that "we must all be co-responsible for the Church we desire, because it deals with a reality too holy and great to be entrusted exclusively to the ecclesiastical hierarchy."

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