Good News for Indigenous peoples in Brazil! Yet violence persists…
On April 15, 2005 President Lula of Brazil ratified the Raposa/Serra do Sol Reserve in the state of Roraima as one continuous reserve for approximately 16,000 Indigenous people. This is considered a historic restitution of indigenous rights after more than thirty years of struggle by the Macuxi, Wapichana, Ingarikó, Taurepang and Patamona peoples for legal recognition of their traditional land. All non-indigenous people have one year to leave the reserve and will be compensated. A military zone along the Venezuelan and Guyanese borders, a small town, power lines and roads are excluded from the reserve area.
Raposa Serra do Sol had been demarcated in 1998 but ratification, the last step for official recognition, was delayed until last month. Tension and violence grew as local landowners, including rice growers who had illegally invaded the area, continued to pressure against its ratification. According to Amnesty International more than twenty indigenous people have died in disputes over the territory, while hundreds more have lost their homes and livestock. The Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), the Diocese of Roraima and other supporters of the Indigenous peoples' struggle for their land rights had also faced threats and violence.
Amnesty International is calling on the Federal government in Brazil to provide security in the region during the first years of the officially recognized territory and the time during which compensation claims will have to be settled.
More violence is already the reality. Activities for the Brazil's National Indigenous Peoples' Week in April were cancelled in Roraima in solidarity with a University professor who was attacked on April 19th, Brazil's Indigenous Peoples' Day. This professor coordinates an innovative university program enabling indigenous teachers to gain a university degree oriented to indigenous reality. A Molotov cocktail was thrown at the professor's house. No one was hurt, but his car was damaged. Anonymous callers threatened to kill his daughters unless he left Roraima. CIR, the Diocese of Roraima and various other supportive organizations have signed a protest note against the climate of terrorism in Roraima generated by some landowners, politicians and local media. Over 100 federal police are in the Raposa Reserve area for security.
Let us pray for peace in Roraima!
Read more about this story and others on Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Ecuador, Guyana, Thailand, and Canada in the May special edition of Scarboro Magazine.
