and Servico Espiritano de Justica e Paz.

Number 60, January 07, 1993.

CHILDREN AND YOUTH

- 247 thousand children die in Brazil per year according to

Unicef report.

A report published by Unicef on December 17 places Brazil in

67th. place on the world scale of infant mortality. The figure

for deaths of children of under 5 years is 247 thousand each

year. The death rate is the equivalent of 67 infant deaths

amongst each 1000 children.

The statistics published by Unicef show that Brazil has a

higher mortality rate than some of the poorest countries in Latin

America. The Latin American country with the lowest infant

mortality rate is Cuba which has an average per capita income of

U.S. $1170 (the Brazilian average annual per capita income is

U.S. $2680). In Cuba the average rate of infant mortality per

1000 children is 13. In Latin America, Colombia (annual average

per capita income U.S.$1240) and Chile (U.S. $1940) are in second

and third place. Brazil occupies 14th. place on the same scale

for Latin America and is thus in a worse position than countries

such as El Salvador (annual average per capita income U.S. $1100)

and Paraguay (U.S. $1110).

Other statistics published in the report help to explain the

relatively high Brazilian infant mortality rate. 36% of the

Brazilian population has no access to basic sanitation, 115 of

children are under-weight at birth, a mere 4% are breast-fed and

only 22% of those who start school finish the primary grade.

Speaking of the situation of children in Brazil, the report

comments "Much yet needs to be done until the measures adopted in

favor of the rights of children in Brazil be considered

satisfactory. However, constitutional and legal measures which

already have taken place are a fundamental basis for progress".

- 6 year old prostitutes in Recife.

Street children of 6 years of age are already prostitutes in

Recife, State of Pernambuco, according to a survey carried out

over two years by the Casa de Passagem in that city. Of the 1015

children interviewed during the survey, 447 claimed they earned

money through prostitution. The president of the Casa de

Passagem, lawyer Ana Vasconcelos, claims that young girls and

adolescents comprise 30% of the women involved in prostitution in

Recife. The survey also revealed that 81% of such children do not

know their father and mother.

BOOK REVIEW

- Amazon grassroots and ecology struggle described in recently

published book.

"Jurua: O Rio que Chora" ("Jurua: The River which Cries")

In December 1992, the Vozes Publishing-House of Petropolis, Rio

de Janeiro published a book with the above title. It was written

by Rev. Joao Derickx who as a missionary of the Holy Ghost

Congregation has spent many years in the heart of Amazonia.

As a book it can be very highly recommended for two reasons:

Joao Derickx, a native of Holland with his disciplined training

in research and observation presents to us several aspects of the

Amazon which no other publication to date managed to portray.

Secondly, and this will be of significant interest to those

interested in ecology or human rights questions in general, he

presents to us a case study of the investment of the Catholic

Church in such questions in the Amazon.

Joao Derickx throughout the book is a spokesperson for the

Amazonian population which is oppressed in many ways. Illiteracy

is widespread - 85% of the total population, individuals and

communities are frequently prey to the manipulations of the

politicians and power seekers, the indigenous communities are by

and large totally abandoned by government organs, health problems

abound, the environment and consequently the local inhabitants

are savagely attacked and the local rubber-tapper population is

grossly exploited in the sale of the latex. However, it is clear

throughout the book that the author is one who has lived close to

the local population and he is able to describe the joys and

hopes, the plans and dreams which fortunately are common as well

amongst this marginalized population. This is a viewpoint which

we do not often receive and is one which makes the book well

worth reading.

In all of Brazil, the Catholic Church has invested heavily in

the formation and growth of grassroots movements in the last

twenty years. While this is widely known, little has been

documented and published about this work. This is one of the

great strengths of this book. It presents well documented case

studies for example of the organization of local Church groups in

their struggle against local corrupt municipal administrations,

of the organization and growth of grassroots movements amongst

local communities such as the preservation of the lakes from

large fishing boats and the rubber tapper organizations. Other

case studies include the work of the Indigenous Missionary

Council (CIMI) and the Land Pastoral Commission (CPT). There are

touching moments in the book when Joao Derickx allows us to

glimpse into his inner self and briefly lets us see a personal

spirituality which without doubt is a driving force for him in

isolated Carauari, in the heart of the Amazon.

Well-known Brazilian theologian Leonardo Boff commenting on the

book remarks:

"The book is a historical reference for the entire

(Amazonian) region.... The extraordinary thing about the

book is its global and integral aspect. In it there is

poetry alongside struggle, there is a delight for nature

alongside land conflicts, there is play combined with work.

It is an ecological book, because ecology in its most

eminent sense is an attitude which combines everything at

all points".

Editora Vozes may be contacted at the following address:

Rua Frei Luis 100,

25689-900 Petropolis,

Rio de Janeiro,

Brazil.

The author may be contacted at the following address:

Casa Paroquial,

Praca Paulino Gomes s/n,

69500-000 Carauari,

AM., Brazil.

Phone (092) 491-1206.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

- Gold prospectors invade Yanomani territory in mass.

According to reports in the "Folha de So Paulo" of December 27

and 28, large numbers of gold prospectors have once again invaded

the Yanomani territory in the State of Roraima. According to the

administrator of Funai in Manaus (the government organ

responsible for the indigenous question), Raimundo Catarino

Serejo, "the entire Yanomami area has been occupied by gold-

prospectors. The situation is chaotic". The national president of

Funai, Sidney Possuelo, affirmed that there are now 11 thousand

gold prospectors in the indigenous area of just over 94 thousand

square kilometers and in which 9000 indians live in 200 villages.

According to the Manaus coordinator of Funai, the landing

strips which were destroyed in 1990 by the federal police and

army are being used once again. Yanomami leader, Davi Yanomami

claims that the Collor government used the demarcation of the

area in November 1991 as "political propaganda in the lead-up to

Eco-92". Meanwhile, Funai is severely understaffed in the

Yanomami territory. In all, it has only 54 there. According to

the local coordinator of Funai in Boa Vista, Glenio Alvarez, the

entity requires double the number of functionaries. Other

problems being faced by Funai include the lack of transport and

large debts to local suppliers of food and gasoline.

- Yanomami run risk of cholera outbreak.

Since mid December fears exist that an outbreak of cholera

could hit the Yanomami territory. Two gold prospectors who were

working in the region of the Cauaburis river which flows through

the Yanomami region were hospitalized with symptoms of the

disease. If cholera breaks out amongst the Yanomami it would

cause the death of many of this group since all the water used by

the indians comes from the rivers and is not treated; besides

there is no infrastructure to attend such an outbreak in the

region. Approximately 3 thousand indians live in the region of

the river Cauaburis. An estimated 2.500 gold prospectors have

entered this region in recent months.

HUMAN RIGHTS

- Memorial to the missing.

A monument to the memory of political prisoners who disappeared

during the military dictatorship was inaugurated in the cemetery

of Perus, Sao Paulo, on December 30 last by the mayoress of Sao

Paulo, Luiza Erundina de Souza. It was her last public function

as mayoress.

The monument, designed by architect Ricardo Ohtake, overlooks

the trench where two years ago the mortal remains of 1046 people

were found - a macabre grave for the victims of political

repression and the death squads as well as for indigents. The

inscription on the monument reads "Here the dictators tried to

hide the missing political prisoners, the victims of hunger, the

victims of the violence of the police state and the death squads

and above all, the rights of the poor citizens of Sao Paulo. Let

it be known that the crimes against freedom will always be

discovered. Luiza Erundina de Souza and the Commission of the

Families of the Missing Political Prisoners".

- Families of missing may get indemnity.

The government of President Itamar Franco is preparing a

project to be sent to the National Congress which proposes that

the families of the political prisoners who are missing since the

military dictatorship be paid indemnity.

Sources in Brasilia say that at the moment the project is being

discussed by the military ministers. If the project is approved,

it will be the first concrete effort on the part of the federal

government to redress in some way the crimes committed by the

military regime. Meanwhile, the Ministry for Justice is

negotiating with the military for permission to open the Armed

Forces' archives on those who are missing as a step to facilitate

the preparation of the project.

RURAL QUESTIONS

- Insecticides kill in the interior of Brazil.

The widespread and indiscriminate use of insecticides in

agriculture is provoking destruction and death in the interior of

Brazil. Statistics from the Epidemiological Center of the

Secretariat of Health of the State of Parana show that between

January and August of 1992, 60 people died and a further 635 were

intoxicated by insecticides in that state. A study made by the

Catholic Church's Pastoral Commission for Land (CPT) in Mato

Grosso concluded that the insecticide and fertilizer industries

in Brazil have a turn-over of approximately U.S. $6 billion per

year. DDT is the insecticide most commonly used.

- Agrarian law in process of voting in National Congress.

An agrarian law which will regulate agrarian reform in Brazil

is in the process of being voted in the National Congress. The

background to this new law is as follows: In 1988, conservative

forces within Brazil led by the Democratic Rural Union (UDR)

hindered the passing of a popular amendment which had received

over a million signatures of support within the country. The law

which was passed with the help of the UDR left many loop-holes.

In 1989, grassroots movements and entities representing rural

workers prepared a proposal for the agrarian law which had been

called for by the 1988 Constitution. This proposal was presented

in the National Congress by Deputy Antonio Maragon of the

Workers' Party (PT) of the State of Rio Grande do Sul. With the

election of a number of rural workers to the National Congress in

1991 the question was again taken up by various deputies of the

Workers' Party.

Because of the pressure coming from the grassroots movements as

well as the worsening rural situation and the findings of the

parliamentary commission of inquiry about rural violence,

agrarian reform was once again discussed in Congress during 1992.

The law project presented was approved by the Chamber of Deputies

and sent to the Senate where it was approved at the beginning of

last September. The proposed law was modified by 22 amendments in

the Senate; these amendments will now have to be approved by the

Chamber of Deputies.

The law proposal which now returns to the Chamber of Deputies

is clear on the social function of property. When property does

not fulfill such a function, it can be disappropriated according

to the law proposal; its disappropriation will depend on the

degree of use of the land. The Chamber may only accept or reject

the amendments of the Senate; it cannot now create new ones.

Afterwards it goes to the President for his signature. The

President has the power of total or partial veto; sections vetoed

would then return to the National Congress for further

consideration.

- Decline in milk consumption leads to exportation for first

time in Brazil.

Until 1991, Brazil was an importer of milk. During 1992 a record

milk exportation was recorded from the country; this exportation

was due to the fact that 2 billion liters of milk went unused

during 1992. This milk was exported to Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt,

Argentine, Peru, Bolivia and in smaller quantities to East

African countries. In all, approximately 80 thousand tons of milk

powder were exported during the year.

The milk was available for exportation due in large part to the

fact that the government terminated many of its social programs

and milk products which were normally bought for such programs

now are available for exportation. The export price per ton was

on average U.S. $1.500 which is considered by producers as being

below the cost of production.

- Social statistics show worsening conditions in Brazil.

Recent statistics show that the construction industry dismissed

500 thousand workers between June of 1991 and July of 1992. These

dismissals affected indirectly the employment of a further one

and a half million workers. During last November, the civil

construction sector of Sao Paulo dismissed 48.044 workers.

The population of the favelas (shanty towns) of Rio de Janeiro

rose from 721.217 inhabitants in 1980 to 961.176 in 1991

according to the Planning Institute of the Municipality

(Instituto de Planejamento do Municipio - Iplan) of Rio de

Janeiro - an increase of 33.27%. During the same period, the

population of the city of Rio de Janeiro increased by 7% from

5.090.700 inhabitants in 1980 to 5.472.967 in 1990.

Approximately 30 million Brazilian do not have access to

treated water and 93 million (73 million in cities and 25 million

rural dwellers) do not have sewerage connections. These

precarious sanitary conditions are responsible for 80% of all

illnesses and for 65% of all cases of hospitalization of

children.

The reproduction of this material is permitted as long as the source is cited.