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Occupation Of Plantations in Brazil: the Tension Rises
Por Pablo Indio (translated by kevin) -
Monday, Jan. 26, 2004 at 10:36 PM
More than 3,000 indigenous Guartaní y Kaiwas continue occupying plantations Mato Grosso do Sul. Since the 22 of December 14 plantations have been claimed in the demand for an increase of the land of the Porto Lindo village. An Order from Federal Judge Odilon de Oliveira cited the 20th of January as the date of eviction, but Consuelo Yoshida of the Federal Regional Tribune suspended the action. The farmers criticize her resolution and threaten to deliver justice with their own hands, while the indigenous say that they will resist even at the risk of their lives.
The indigenous demand enlargement of Porto Lindo village from the current size of 1,600 hectares to approximately 9,470 hectares. The demand is supported by an investigation by anthropologists of the National Indian Foundation -a federal body- that considers the land indigenous even though not yet legally demarcated.
Ramiro Rockenbach, Solicitor of the Republic in Dorados has requested the suspension of the eviction order given by Federal Judge Odilon de Oliveira, which was partially granted by Consuelo Yoshida.
Even if the eviction was suspended, according to the order, while they may remain in part of the land, the indigenous must permit the entrance of the landowners. Also, during a period of 20 days eight commissions must oocur, each with the participation of twenty indigenous representatives and funcionaries of Funai and the Public Ministry.
The celebration of a treaty (called Agreement to a Change of Conduct) is to conclude the twenty day period, which would reinitiate the identification of the area and complete the necessary processes of the regulation of the land.
The decision of the Federal Regional Tribunal was not welcome by to the land owners, who consider it mpractical and threaten to evict the indigenous by their own means. According to the statements of Pedro Fernandes, of São Jorge plantation, Our patience is over and if the authorities will not act, we make justice ourselves.
According to the newspaper Campo Grande News, the cleaning (sic) of the property will be performed by armed groups contracted in Paraguay. Fernandes accepted the possibility that there will be deaths, but he justified himself saying that we alone will not assume responsibility alone. If people go there and an indian dies, Funai, the Federal Police and the judge will have to claim their share of the fault.
Already last Wednesday there was a confrontation between land owners and the indigenous groups at the entrance of São Jorge plantation, leaving a count of two wounded among the indigenous: 15 year old Odeir Martins, from a raspon in the nape of the neck produced by the shooting of a fire arm, and another adolescent, by a palazo in the head. The 52 years old indigenous man, Sebastião Verá, , declared to reporters of the Campo Grande News that upon arrival some land owners tied his hands and feet and threw him naked into Iguatemi river.
The resolution of the Regional Federal Tribunal was no more convincing to the Guaraní and Kaiwas who warned that they will not leave the 14 occupied farms. The legal demarcation of the land is a problem of the Funai because it has to do with the continuity of the occupations, according to Campo Grande News reporters.
Very well. They have anuled what Odilon did. But we are not leaving here. It is not the responsibility of Funai but of our people, said Tedju, one of the leaders of the indigenous groups.
Before the issue of the resolution by Consuelo Yoshida, the indigenous had already demonstrated their intention not to abandon the land. In a letter directed at state functionaries divulged in the press, a young Guaraní identifying herself as Kunã Yvoty, or Flower of Woman in the Tupi Guaraní language, warned that if it were necessary, we will give our lives, wash wish blood Yvy Katu our land-, because it was always so: there is no place in Brazil that was not stained by the blood of the indigenous who gave their lives and spilled their blood in the struggle to earn their rights and land.
A functionary of the Regional Federal Tribunal has affirmed that the formation of the commissions must calm the indigenous. It is not the occupations that will determine indigenous rights, but the agility of the administrative processes, affirmed to FM Ciudad, making reference to Funai. It also said that it is confident that Funai will take leadership and conduct the negotiations with the indigenous.
According to its vision, through the commissions, the indigenous will be represented in an organized and pacific way, near the plantations, maintaining the protest and the pressure. Indeed, in the treaty the indigenous will receive a guaranty that the implementation of the chronology established will be fulfilled.
The functionary criticized the occupation as a method of requesting the land. It is not through invasion that the situation will be resolved, the conflict can only be resolved through the fulfillment of the period of the legal demarcation of the area.
En reality it was through the pressure exercised trhough the occupation of the plantations that governmental bodies became interested in expediating the administrative process. In this sense, the president of Funai, Mércio Peral Gomes, revealed that Funai has already identified those will participate in the commissions, and that they are interested in fulfilling the will of the Regional Federal Tribunal.
This Monday, in Brazilia, a meeting about the Direction of Fundamental Topics of the Funai is foreseen. There, the anthropological study of Porto Lindo village will be discussed. The meeting will be attended by the anthropologists responsible for the study, Rubens de Almeida and Fábio Mura, who did the study.
In respect to the decision of the indigenous to not abandon the land, the president of Funai said he hoped that the indigenous reflect and recognize that the path of negotiation is the most interesting.
Repercussions
The farm owners were not alone in criticizing the decision of Consuelo Yoshida. The president of the National Movement of Producers (MNP), João Bosco Leal, sent a letter to the press saying that it is lamentable the slowness of the fulfillment Federal Judge Odilons order. The text says rural producers are pacific, ordered, generator of work and capital for the country, but that this situation could lead them into desperation with unforeseeable consequences.
Declarations to the same effect were made by the president of the Agricultural Federation of Mato Grosso do Sul, Leôncio Brito, who questioned Consuelo Yoshida, arguing that the she lacks objectivity. He declared that his federation as well as the National Agriculture Confederation will place all judiciary resources behind the farm owners, for those who request an excess of tolerance he said he foresees difficult days ahead.
The president of the OAB/MS (Order of Brazilian Lawyers), Geraldo Escobar, claimed that it is not possible to comply with the decision of Yoshida, although he was worried about the possible role of police force in the eviction. In his opinion, such a situation could create an international crisis, given that the indigenous are disposed to resist.
The land owners also demand constitutional reform that permits an indemnification in the event that the land is finally handed over to the indigenous. Even the prefect of Japorã, Sebastião de Sousa (PL), who appears to favor the indigenous. agrees with the request. The request for indemnification was previously presented by the governor of Mato Grosso do Sul, Zeca, of the PT party, and transformed into PEC (Proposal of Constitutional Amendment) by senator Jucêncio César. In total, land owners estimate that the disputed areas value a minimum of 60,000,000 Reais (~21,052,500 USD).
Also Senator Ramez Tebet (PMDB MS) cried out for a policy of demarcation of land that bears in mind the situation of titles owning land holders, asking for a constitutional reform that permits indemnification. He questioned Funais decision based on anthropological information, but which didnt confer with other intrests.
Finally, José Ipojucan Herrara, that defended the interests of the land owners, in an interview criticized the resolution of Consuelo Yoshida, citing the fifth article, item XXII of the Magna Carta, that assures the right of property.
The Indigenous: the poorest of the poor.
According to the interpretation of the judge who ordered the eviction, the conflict would be induced by cultural difference. The indigenous fight for land because they value the past, while the land owner thinks of the future and of profit. But certainly the indigenous need the land in order to survive, The hunt is all but inexistent in Porto Lindo village and they dependent of the basic government supplements to subsist.
Gumercindo Fernandes, one of the indigenous participating in the occupations, explained that with the presence of cattle en the region, native vegetation no longer exists, and this doesnt favor the hunt. Seventy-four year old Delasantos was more categorical: with the hunt terminated with the arrival of the non-indigenous.
The municipality of Japorã, where the village from where the indigenous occupiers come is, has the largest index of social marginalization in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. According to figures registered in 2000 by the IBBE (Brasilian Institute of Geography and Statistics), with a total of 6, 000 inhabitants, 44% of the families live in precarious conditions and 29% of those older than 10 have not attended at least a year of school.
In the municipality almost half the population is indigenous: 40 % according to the figures of the IGBE (over 6,000 inhabitants) and 45%, according to statistics offered by the prefecture, of an estimated population of 7,500.
This marginalization is repeated in the six other municipalities of the state where there are indigenous villages: Dos Hermanos Del Buriti, Aral Moreira, Juti, Tacuru, Coronel Sapucaia and Paranhos. The only municipality with a high degree of marginalization where there is no indigenous village is Nuevo Horizonte del Sur, which arose out of an sem terra. establishment (Movimento Sem Terra).
The war operative continues
Inspite of the disposition of Consuelo Yoshida, the operative undertaken by the authorities of Public Security to remove the indigenous has not been dismantled. It is an operation of 600 men, among them military police, federal agents and firepersons --so it was announced last Wednesday at the end of the meeting in which the secretary of Justice and Public Security of Mato Brosso Do Sul, Dagoberto Nogueira, the superintendent of the Federal Police, Wantuir Jacini, and even the commanders of the Military Police, José Ivan de Alemeida, and of the Fire Squad, João Alves Calixto participated.
The planed logistics include Military Police shock troops, officers on horseback and police recruited in the municipality of Nova Andradina, Dourados, Jardim and Aquidauana, and even two helicopters requested for reinforcement from Brasilia.
The operation, estimated at $100, 000 Reais (35,000 USD), would also involve a tactical operations group from Brasilia (federal district), while army would give logistical support, offering a stage and food for the police involved.
In this vein, the governor, Zeca of the PT, declared that the work of the government must be to remain firm and with the police on alert, in case that the intervention with armed troops proves necessary. Superintendent of the Federal Police of Mato Grosso do Sul, Wantuir Jacine, affirmed to Campo Grande News that he awaits the decision of the Justice to return possession of the 14 occupied plantations.
(*) Article formed from information provided by Campo Grande News
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