This Guarani Mbya group still maintains the practice of migrating
continuously in their search for the "land with no maladies- their
paradise". The Guarani keep their costumes and speak Guarani. The few
remnant Guarani people survive from game, fishing, crops and handicrafts,
dividing the little forest left with the Tupinikim Indians without
conflicts.
In the 60s, the SPI was terminated and to replace it, was created the
National Indigenous Foundation (Fundacao Nacional do Indio - FUNAI) to
support the new governmental goals. This moment is crucial for determining
the bad conditions in which the Brazilian Indians live today. The Brazilian
Government launched big development projects and the social impact of such
initiatives hit directly the Indians. almost all their land, encroached in
small back yard properties, making more difficult even more the survival of
the group as a whole.
Aracruz Celulose
Presently the problems of the Tupinikim and Guarani Indians are directly
related with the market pulp company Aracruz Celulose. According to data
from The Bank of National Social Development (Banco Nacional de
Desenvolvimento Economico Social - BNDES), Aracruz owns 203,000 ha in
Espirito Santo. This company received from the State and Federal
Governments all sort of incentives. From the State of Espirito Santo's
Government they bought 30,000 ha of indigenous land for a symbolic value of
8/10 of cents of a cruzeiro for m2. And acquired from COFAVI a piece of
property of 10,000 ha (from that indigenous area taken over by this company
back in 1940). The remaining of the indigenous territory occupied by
Aracruz Celulose nowadays, was taken by different maneuvers mainly
"grilagem" (hiring land buyers who use all sort of violence to grab the
land - paying for it or not). displacement of the Indians, declaring that
in that area were no Indians.
The native forests were replaced by eucalyptus plantations, jeopardizing
the traditional way of living of the Indians. The Indians say that:
"Or you would sell your land or they would take it away from you and then
you would have nothing. Then the Indians got afraid and started to move
away... Aracruz arrived destroying everything. They brought two bulldozers
and a big chain, destroying everything ahead of them. We found all sort of
animals dead. Then the forests finished, the birds died, and the rivers
dried..."
The statements of the Indians, who were present during Aracruz's occupation
of the land, illustrate realistically the violence imposed by this company,
which as well is responsible for the environment degradation in the region.
In 1983, after an intense fight, the Indians got back 4.491,40 ha of their
original land (but in discontinuous pieces) and succeeded to have in
demarcated by the Government. Since then, the Indians have been distributed
into five communities: one Guarani and four Tupinikim. The remnant Indians
plantations. Their lands are arid and unproductive, imposing a miserable
life to these people. They can not hunt anymore, the rivers are drying and
the land does not produce as before.
Ten years later, in 1993, the Indians decided to demand the expansion of
their lands, once the indigenous population started to grow again. This
proposal was filed with FUNAI, in Brasilia, under number 1632/93. The
Indians want their land back, because they depend from it for their
survival. The Indians are proposing the restoration of the area destroyed
by Aracruz with eucalyptus plantations to original forests, so that they
can have game, fish and freedom again.
Unification and expansion of the indigenous lands
Despite the fact that the Indians are facing a process of acculturation,
surviving of small crop plantations and selling handicrafts, the Tupinikim
and Guarani Indians are being able to get organized. Presently they are
fighting for the control of 13,579 ha, which has always been theirs and
would allow for their survival. The Indians' proposal for expansion of
their present area, is for the unification of the communities of Caieias
Velhas and Pau Brasil, which will Comboios community to a total area of
3,800 ha. After establishing a strong network to obtain support for their
claim, in the 30th of November of 1993, the Indians succeed to be heard by
the Federal deputy Chamber's Commission on Environment and Minorities. That
day, the President of FUNAI, established a Working Group (Grupo de Trabalho
- GT) to reassess, identify and implement the demarcation of the Tupinikim
an Guarani indigenous areas. Under the decree 0783/94 of 30th August 1994,
the GT was officially established. This Working Group produced a report,
approved by the Indians and which supports the demand of the Indians. All
the paper work is concluded and now it is needed to be officially published
(Diario Oficial da Uniao).
The publication of the report's conclusions has been suspended, due to a
new decree (1775/96) from 8th January of 1996, by the Minister of Justice,
which changed the procedures for the official recognition of indigenous
territories. This decree open possibilities for Aracruz and others to
protest against the demands of the Indians. Indigenous groups of all over
Brasil are fighting against this decree and threat that these changes will
mean for their survival in the areas traditionally belonging to them.
Even recognizing that Aracruz or the Brazilian Government have no interest
Indians, they will not give up. The Indians recognize that succeeding to
get a report from the Working Group was a first step. Given these facts,
the Tupinikim and Guarani Indians are launching an international campaign
asking for the support of ngos, indigenous defense groups, personalities
and authorities to put pressure on Aracruz Celulose, and over the Brazilian
Government to redefine the boundaries of the lands.
You are encouraged to utilize this information for personal campaign use;
including writing letters, organizing campaigns and forwarding. All
efforts are made to provide accurate, timely pieces; though ultimate
responsibility for verifying all information rests with the reader. Check
out our Gaia Forest Conservation Archives at URL=
http://forests.lic.wisc.edu/forests/gaia.html
Networked by:
Ecological Enterprises
Email (best way to contact)-> grbarry@students.wisc.edu
iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
Subject: In the Beginning
In the Beginning
================
God Created heaven and the earth. Quickly he was faced with a class action
suit for failure to file an environmental impact statement. He was granted
a temporary permit for the project, but was stymied with the cease and
desist order for the earthly part.
Appearing at the hearing, God was asked why he began his earthly project in
the first place. He replied that he just liked to be creative.
Then God said, "Let there be light", and immediately the officials demanded
to know how the light would be made. Would there be strip mining? What
about thermal pollution? God explained that the light would come from a
hugh ball of fire. God was granted provisional permission to make light,
assuming that no smoke would result from the ball of fire: that he would
obtain a building permit; and to conserve energy, would have the light out
half the time. God agreed and said he would call the light "Day" and the
darkness "Night". Officials replied that they were not interested in
semantics.
God said, "Let the earth bring forth green herb and such as many seed". The
EPA agreed so long as native seed was used. Then God said, "Let waters
bring forth creeping creatures having life; and the fowl that may fly over
the earth". Officials pointed out this would require approval from the
Department of Game coordinated with the Heavenly Wildlife Federation and
the Audubongelic Society.
Everything was O.K. until God saud he wanted to complete the project in Six
days. Officials said it would take at least 200 days to review the
application and impact statement. After that there would be a public
hearing. Then there would be 10-12 months before...
At this point God created Hell.
Subject: BIOD: Ecuador's Amazon Oil Protests
**************************************************************
OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE
Rainforest Action Network reports on protests by some 300 Ecuadorian
citizens agains Ecuadorian Amazon oil exploration, particularly by the
Texaco company. This follows recent oil spills and continued large scale
damage to the Amazonian ecosystem caused by such oil exploration. This
item comes from RAN's list server.
For Immediate Release - June 20, 1996
Press Contact - Mark Westlund: ranmedia@ran.org
Shannon Wright: amazonia@ran.org
ECUADORIAN CITIZENS PROTEST
TEXACO'S AMAZON OIL POLLUTION
(QUITO) Protesting oil pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon over 300 oil
workers, Amazonian citizens, farmers, students, and environmentalists
marched from the Ecuadorian Congress to the Presidential Palace today. They
demanded that Ecuadorian President Sixto Duran Ballen announce his support
for the Amazonian peoples and that he work to hold Texaco accountable for
its destruction of the Amazon. The protesters marched to pressure their
government to support a class action suit in the U.S. Federal Court against
Texaco's pollution of the Amazon.
Chanting "Who destroyed the Amazon and who should clean it up? Texaco! Sue
Texaco!" the protesters demanded that their government support them rather
than the international oil company.
Marchers from the Ecuadorian jungle arrived with photos of the latest
spill, caused by antiquated equipment left by Texaco and currently owned by
Petroecuador. Local communities calculated that nearly 1,000 barrels of
oil spilled several days ago from the same pipeline which they have
demanded Texaco upgrade.
"This latest spill only underscores the ongoing destruction in the Amazon
and the urgent need for just solutions," said Shannon Wright, Rainforest
Action Network's Amazon program director.
In a precedent setting court case, Amazonian peoples filed a $1.5 billion
class action suit in the U.S. Federal Court, calling for Texaco to clean
the Amazon of their pollution and compensate the Ecuadorian people for its
24 years of devastating operations in Ecuador. This case has gained much
more success than legal observers initially predicted.
Before ruling on the U.S. action suit the judge requested clarification of
the Ecuadorian government's position of the case, which is expected within
the next several days.
Last week, the Ecuadorian Congress unanimously passed a resolution in
support of Amazonian plaintiffs. On June 18, however, the President of the
National Congress suddenly withdrew his support for the resolution, in
effect suspending it. Observers close to the Congress suspect that his
reversal is due to severe pressure from Texaco.
Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earth's rainforests and
support their inhabitants through education, grassroots organizing, and
non-violent direct action.
________________________________________________________________________
Rainforest Action Network WWW site: http://www.ran.org
450 Sansome, Suite 700 General email: rainforest@ran.org
San Francisco, CA 94111 IGC news: rainfor.general, ran.news
Phone: (415) 398-4404 Gopher: gopher.ran.org:70/11/orgs/ran
Fax: (415) 398-2732 Automatic info return: ran-info@ran.org
You are encouraged to utilize this information for personal campaign use;
including writing letters, organizing campaigns and forwarding. All
efforts are made to provide accurate, timely pieces; though ultimate
responsibility for verifying all information rests with the reader. Check
out our Gaia Forest Conservation Archives at URL=
http://forests.lic.wisc.edu/forests/gaia.html
Networked by:
Ecological Enterprises
Email (best way to contact)-> grbarry@students.wisc.edu
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