Number 68, March 4, 1993.

RURAL QUESTIONS

- Entities request federal intervention in the State of Acre following the escape of Chico Mendes killers.

The Chico Mendes Committee which has a membership from 35 entities presented a document to the Minister for Justice, Mauricio Correa, on February 25, requesting federal intervention in the State of Acre. Darly Alves and his son Darci who were tried and condemned for the assassination of Chico Mendes, escaped from prison in Rio Branco, Acre, on February 15. Minister Correa decided that the Federal Police would be responsible for the search and recapture of the fugitives whom some suspect have already escaped from Brazil.

The coordinator of the Chico Mendes Committee, Ruscelino Araujo Barbosa, stated that the federal intervention was requested so that the State of Acre not remain the State of impunity where sinister forces eliminate trade union leadership. The Minister stated that federal intervention in a state must be requested by the State Legislature as well as the National Congress. He went on to comment that he "was extremely shocked with the situation of penury" experienced by the prison in Rio Branco.

On Monday last, entities connected to social and grassroots movements met in the Municipal Legislature in Sao Paulo to debate how Brazilian public opinion could be mobilized following the escape of the assassins of Chico Mendes. Since the escape, anonymous death threats against leaders of grassroots movements in the State of Acre have been very frequent. Such threats have increased significantly against trade union leader, Osmarino Amancio Rodrigues, who is recognized as the successor of Chico Mendes.

- Landless rural workers occupy the Secretariat of Agriculture in Sao Paulo.

The Secretariat of Agriculture was occupied on Monday last, March 01, by 300 rural landless workers. The workers demanded of the State Secretary of Agriculture, Barros Munhoz, the immediate liberation of a fund which has been reserved for the area of agriculture and fishing. The rural landless workers also occupied branches of the State bank - Banespa, in the municipalities of Promissao and Presidente Epitacio.

On February 26 last, 1.850 landless rural families occupied once again the Sao Bento ranch. This ranch is situated in the municipality of Mirante do Paranapanema and contains over 5000 hectares. It is situated within an area of public land ("terra devoluta") and thus belongs to the government. Even though it is an area marked out for agrarian reform it has been taken over by large ranchers.

- President Itamar Franco sanctions agrarian bill.

On Wednesday February 24, President Itamar Franco sanctioned the bill for agrarian reform, which was already approved by parliament. However he vetoed 10 items of the bill, the most important of which referred to article 17, determining that the disappropriation of rural property must follow a certain order, according to the degree of utility of the land.

Another important veto was that of article 14, that allowed the disappropriated landowner to remain on the property until the whole legal process of the disappropriation was over. The vetoes made by the president satisfied, in part the demands made by entities and movements involved in the struggle for agrarian reform, such as the National Confederation of Agricultural Workers (Contag), the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST) and the Churches Land Pastoral (CPT).

- Public act to protest against hydro-electric plants.

The Movement of Those Threatened by Hydro-Electric Plants of the Valley of the River Ribeira is organizing a public protest, for March 12th to denounce the construction of hydro-electric plants in the Valley of Ribeira, Sao Paulo, one of the poorest regions of the State. The protest will take place outside Sao Paulo's Art Museum, (MASP), on the Paulista Avenue. The government of Sao Paulo have plans to build four hydro stations on the River Rio Ribeira do Iguape, one of which in conjunction with the mega-businessman, Antonio Ermirio de Moraes. Four thousand families will be dislocated from their homes and work if the plants are built.

CHILDREN

- 4 year old children are day-workers in the State of Parana.

On Sunday February 28, the "Folha de Sao Paulo" carried a report which shows that children as young as 4 years are working as day-workers ("boias-frias") in the cotton plantations of the municipality of Querencia do Norte situated 620 kilometers from the state capital of Parana, Curitiba. Hunger and unemployment are forcing such children to work as many as 10 hours each day in the cotton-fields. The children are transported to their work-place in open trucks.

According to the Federation of Rural Workers of Querencia do Norte, approximately 4000 children from the municipalities of Querencia do Norte, Porto Rico, Santa Cruz do Monte Castelo and Santa Isabel do Ivai are forced to work from the age of 4 in order to increase their family incomes. "They travel thrown together in trucks without any security, by drivers who do not have a driving-license; they sometimes work more than adults" commented the president of the Federation of Rural Workers, Antonio Norberto Possi. The figures quoted by Possi coincide with a survey carried out by the Municipality of Santa Cruz de Monte Castelo. According to the mayor, Blaudeci Sobral, 80% of the 10 thousand inhabitants of the municipality have become day-workers and 15% of this total is made up of children.

According to the mayor, "acute hunger" was caused by the substitution of the coffee plantations with cattle around the middle of the last decade. "Coffee demanded fixed employment and when it finished, the majority of the rural workers migrated to the small cities where there are no industries to give employment. Since cattle-farming offers low employment, all that remains are the four months of the cotton harvest for the day-workers and their children" commented Mayor Sobral. This comment is supported by a representative of the local land-owners and president of the Rural Society of Monte Castelo, Toninho Morgato, - "Where cattle enter, a large number of families leave".

For the parents of the children, the work of the children means a little less misery in the families. "We earn very little, CR$60 thousand (just under U.S. $3) per day and we only work 20 days each month. For this reason, help from the children is necessary" commented Lorival Esmerio whose son, Jeferson, now 8 years old has been working since he was 6.

Dionner Moura, 6 years old, is called by the older day-workers the "harvest champion". His big dream is to get together enough money so that he may again have a bicycle. Dionner's life is similar to the majority of boys in his region. He wakens at 4.00 AM each day and joins the others workers on the open truck on the journey to the cotton fields in Querencia do Norte. He is accompanied by his mother, day-worker Marineta Moura, 35 years old. "He is my protector" she says, "he gathers as much as 40 kilos of cotton each day and this increases the family income by CR$30 thousand (just under U.S. $1,50)".

Marinete explains that she had to flee four years ago from the city of Campinas in the State of Sao Paulo to Parana because Dionner was being beaten by his father. "Dionner is a fighter, since he was small his father has caused him to suffer a lot but he never lost will-power" she commented. At three years of age Dionner had a bicycle. However, his mother was forced to sell it in order to pay her passage to Parana. Dionner now has a step-father who works as an ice-cream seller. "He is like a father to my son, but unfortunately Dionner must continue working so that we may survive" added Marinete.

Dionner does not know what Christmas means and has never been to school. Amongst the few pleasures which he enjoys is eating ice-cream. His daily diet consists of rice and potatoes. Outside the harvesting period, when he has more free time, he likes to watch television in the neighbors' houses and cycle on adults' bicycles. "Since I cannot get together enough money to buy a bicycle, friends lend me their bicycles" he commented.

URBAN QUESTIONS

- Repression against street-people grows in Sao Paulo.

The repression on the part of the city of Sao Paulo's authorities against people living rough on the streets of the city is getting tougher. According to information given to the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo by the Housing Pastoral groups and the National Movement for Human Rights/ Southern Region, several old-newspaper collectors had their carts confiscated and broken by city workers. The human rights and pastoral groups associate the repression with the style of government of the mayor, Paulo Salim Maluf.

Last week, the Cardinal Archbishop of Sao Paulo, d. Paulo Evaristo Arns, in an audience given to advisors of Paulo Maluf, presented proof of the aggressions committed by city inspectors, against homeless workers, living under bridges in the City's east side. The physical violence against the homeless, repeatedly denied by the mayor's office, was photographed and documented by church workers from the Housing Pastoral Group of the Archdiocese of Sao Paulo. However, having seen the photos, presented by d. Paulo, one of Maluf's advisors said they would have to admit they weren't telling the truth. Paradoxically, this violence occurs just as the Church begins it's Lenten Campaign for 1993, with the theme of housing and the slogan, "Where do you live?" According to statistics from the city, Sao Paulo has, at least, 600 thousand living on the threshold of poverty.

Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Civil Guard, who during the administration of the former mayor, Luiza Erundina, played a preventative role, is now becoming more repressive. Maluf appointed Coronel Luiz Gonzaga, who was subcommander of the military police of Sao Paulo and responsible for the inquiry which failed to blame anyone for the massacre of October 2nd, in Carandiru Prison, where 111 prisoners were killed. In a recent debate with the Mayor of Rio, Cezar Maia, at the newspaper offices of the "Estado de Sao Paulo", Maluf announced that he was going to raise the number of Civil Guards to 10.000 by the end of his administration and that the tone of the organization would be repressive. Referring to his time as an "appointed" mayor of Sao Paulo, during the military regime, Maluf referred to himself in the third person saying, "Maluf was the one who killed least".

- National meeting on low-income housing set for next week.

A national meeting to discuss the problem of housing and particularly, of low-income housing, has been marked for the 13th and 14th of this month. New impetus for the national campaign of signatures for the approval of the project for a National Fund for Housing and a debate on government plans for the area of habitation will be discussed. Participating will be the president of the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB), d. Luciano Mendes, the cardinal Archbishop of Sao Paulo, d. Paulo Evaristo Arns and the Minister for Social Welfare, Jutahy Magalhaes Jr.

The project for a Bill on Low-income Housing was one of the first projects made by popular initiative, that was handed in to the National Congress and was aided by churches and social movements, who gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures in it's favor, from all over Brazil. On Sunday, the 14th, the Archbishop, d. Paulo, will celebrate a special Mass for Housing, in the Cathedral. During the mass, a book on the subject called, "The Right to Housing", published by Edicoes Paulinas and co-edited by the Union of Housing Movements and by FASE, will be launched.

CHURCHES

- Church groups involved in the pastoral care of fishing communities discuss Santo Domingo document.

From the 9 to the 12 of March pastoral groups working with fishing communities will meet in Recife to discuss the results of the Episcopal Assembly of Latin American Bishops, held in San Domingo. The Church's Pastoral Council for fishing communities will also debate the difficult situation of these workers, who in almost every part of Brazil, are persecuted and harassed by land owners, who deny them access to swamp and other fishing areas. The majority of fishing cooperatives are bankrupt or have been privatized, transforming their original owners into salaried workers.

WOMEN'S QUESTIONS

- A national meeting dealing with violence against women takes place in Praia Grande.

With the participation of approximately 350 leaders from feminist movements from all of Brazil, the 1st. National Meeting of Grassroots Organizations about Violence Against Women started on March 02 in Praia Grande, State of Sao Paulo. The principal objective of the meeting is to discuss forms of facing up to the increasing violence committed against women in situation ranging from the home to public and professional life.

HUMAN RIGHTS

- Family members of "disappeared" prepare a congress in Sao Paulo.

Organizations which bring together family members of the disappeared are working on the preparation of a continental congress of the Latin American Federation of Family Members of Disappeared Political Prisoners (Federacao Latino-Americana de Familiares de Presos Politicos Desaparecidos - Fedefam). The meeting will take place in Sao Paulo between November 23 and 28 next.

The coordination of the work has been taken on by the group Torture Never Again (Tortura Nunca Mais). 90 international delegates and 50 Brazilian delegates will participate in the congress. Data supplied by Fedefam indicates that there are 95 thousand disappeared political prisoners in Latin America.

Meanwhile, a Brazilian group composed of members of parliament and lawyers connected to the human rights struggle traveled to Paraguay this week to investigate data recently found in the archives of the political police of that country dating from the military dictatorship of general Alfredo Stroessner. Amongst those who visited Paraguay are Deputy Nilmario Miranda (Workers' Party) who is the coordinator of a special congress commission currently investigating the disappeared and Antonio Maragon who is president of a commission in the state legislature of Rio Grande do Sul currently investigating political repression by the police in that state during the military dictatorship.

Various references occur in the recently found Paraguayian archives to collaboration between groups in Brazil, Paraguay, the Argentine and Uruguay responsible for repression and the disappearance of many who opposed the military dictatorships in these countries. Stroessner lives in Brasilia, and Paraguayian human rights groups are demanding that he be extradited so that he may be judged in Asuncion for alleged crimes committed while he commanded the Paraguayian dictatorship.

- Human Rights NGOs from Sao Paulo will discuss constitutional revision.

A seminar dealing with the civil rights aspects of the constitutional revision will take place on May 22 in Sao Paulo. The seminar is being promoted by the Southern 1 Region of the National Movement of Human Rights (MNDH). The decision was taken on Saturday last in a meeting of the Southern 1 MNDH where 30 entities from the human rights area were represented. The constitutional revision is set to start next October.

Seminars dealing with the same topic will also be promoted by the other seven regions of the MNDH within the next few months. In early July a meeting will take place in Goiania to bring together the proposals arising from the regional seminars and to approve a specific proposal for the constitutional revision. Meanwhile, in the National Congress, deputies from various parties are articulating the postponement of the constitutional revision until 1995. They argue that this year the time span is too short and that in 1994 with the general election, conditions will not exist to carry out such a revision.

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