Post by Okwes on Oct 31, 2006 11:22:12 GMT -5
Amazon Indian conflicts flare before Brazil vote
Sat 28 Oct 2006 9:04 AM ET
By Andrea Welsh
BRASILIA, Brazil, Oct 28 (Reuters) - When Amazon Indians armed with bows and arrows invaded a Brazilian iron ore mine this month, they drew attention to a smoldering problem President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face if he wins re-election as expected on Sunday.
Lula has staked his campaign on aid for the needy, especially a new welfare program that reaches 11 million poor families.
But some of Brazil's poorest -- including thousands of Indians, many on reservations in the Amazon rainforest -- have seen life get tougher under Lula, tribal leaders say.
"Today Indian lands are being invaded by farmers, ranchers, by illegal miners, even by companies," said Marcos Apurina, a member of the Apurina tribe and a coordinator with the Coiab Amazon Indian coalition. "This wasn't a priority for Lula."
The Indian population numbered an estimated 5 million when Portuguese explorers first landed in 1500 in what would become Brazil. Over the centuries, they have suffered enslavement, extermination campaigns, disease and neglect.
They now number about 734,000 in around 230 tribes, according to government figures.
Flare-ups in recent years have been frequent.
Last week, more than 200 Xikrin tribe members donned feathers and war paint and descended on the Carajas mine in the eastern Amazon, trapping workers and nearly forcing one of the world's largest miners to cancel million-dollar deliveries.
The occupation ended peacefully when the Indians agreed to talks. But many incidents have ended in violence.
A report by the Indigenous Missionary Council said murders, assaults and other crimes against Indians surged after Lula took office in 2003. More than 120 Indians were killed in three years, triple the number killed in the preceding three-year period.
Police have also found the bodies of miners on Cinta Larga tribal lands in the western Amazon after a diamond strike started drawing poor fortune hunters to the area.
SQUEEZED BY FARM BOOM
Lula addresses indigenous rights in his campaign platform, pledging to set aside more land and give Indians a stronger voice in governing themselves.
But many tribal leaders say similar goals were not met in the first term. Lula's administration was slower to create Indian reservations than any government since the 1980s, the Indigenous Missionary Council found.
Indians legally own nearly 13 percent of Brazil's land, mostly in the rainforest states of the distant north and west.
Land conflict tends to mirror agricultural growth in Brazil and Lula's first term saw the biggest farming boom in years.
World demand for exports like beef, sugar, soy and iron ore tempted farmers and ranchers to cut deeper into the rainforest to harvest trees, dig for minerals and plant crops.
The exports lifted the economy, pleasing most Brazilians and foreign investors. The downside did not capture attention until February 2005, when gunmen hired by ranchers killed U.S. nun Dorothy Stang, who lived in the Amazon helping forest dwellers fight for land rights.
Beyond violence, Indians suffer from disease and famine. Last year, several Guarani-Kaiowa children starved to death in Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil's largest cattle ranching area, where tribes had been squeezed onto 3,212 acres (1,300 hectares) of land.
When the Indians spread out to occupy contested areas, ranchers got a court order and had them evicted by police.
Many Indians still believe Lula is better than the alternative, says Kleber Matos, who works for Lula's campaign when not on the job at the Education Ministry.
It helps when that alternative is Geraldo Alckmin, a politician from Brazil's industrial south who champions tax cuts and lower lending rates.
"Alckmin says he will increase aid to families but later on he will cut it," said Cesar Ferreiro de Sa, a Fulni-o Indian from the northeast who peddles handicrafts in Brasilia.
Sat 28 Oct 2006 9:04 AM ET
By Andrea Welsh
BRASILIA, Brazil, Oct 28 (Reuters) - When Amazon Indians armed with bows and arrows invaded a Brazilian iron ore mine this month, they drew attention to a smoldering problem President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will face if he wins re-election as expected on Sunday.
Lula has staked his campaign on aid for the needy, especially a new welfare program that reaches 11 million poor families.
But some of Brazil's poorest -- including thousands of Indians, many on reservations in the Amazon rainforest -- have seen life get tougher under Lula, tribal leaders say.
"Today Indian lands are being invaded by farmers, ranchers, by illegal miners, even by companies," said Marcos Apurina, a member of the Apurina tribe and a coordinator with the Coiab Amazon Indian coalition. "This wasn't a priority for Lula."
The Indian population numbered an estimated 5 million when Portuguese explorers first landed in 1500 in what would become Brazil. Over the centuries, they have suffered enslavement, extermination campaigns, disease and neglect.
They now number about 734,000 in around 230 tribes, according to government figures.
Flare-ups in recent years have been frequent.
Last week, more than 200 Xikrin tribe members donned feathers and war paint and descended on the Carajas mine in the eastern Amazon, trapping workers and nearly forcing one of the world's largest miners to cancel million-dollar deliveries.
The occupation ended peacefully when the Indians agreed to talks. But many incidents have ended in violence.
A report by the Indigenous Missionary Council said murders, assaults and other crimes against Indians surged after Lula took office in 2003. More than 120 Indians were killed in three years, triple the number killed in the preceding three-year period.
Police have also found the bodies of miners on Cinta Larga tribal lands in the western Amazon after a diamond strike started drawing poor fortune hunters to the area.
SQUEEZED BY FARM BOOM
Lula addresses indigenous rights in his campaign platform, pledging to set aside more land and give Indians a stronger voice in governing themselves.
But many tribal leaders say similar goals were not met in the first term. Lula's administration was slower to create Indian reservations than any government since the 1980s, the Indigenous Missionary Council found.
Indians legally own nearly 13 percent of Brazil's land, mostly in the rainforest states of the distant north and west.
Land conflict tends to mirror agricultural growth in Brazil and Lula's first term saw the biggest farming boom in years.
World demand for exports like beef, sugar, soy and iron ore tempted farmers and ranchers to cut deeper into the rainforest to harvest trees, dig for minerals and plant crops.
The exports lifted the economy, pleasing most Brazilians and foreign investors. The downside did not capture attention until February 2005, when gunmen hired by ranchers killed U.S. nun Dorothy Stang, who lived in the Amazon helping forest dwellers fight for land rights.
Beyond violence, Indians suffer from disease and famine. Last year, several Guarani-Kaiowa children starved to death in Mato Grosso do Sul state, Brazil's largest cattle ranching area, where tribes had been squeezed onto 3,212 acres (1,300 hectares) of land.
When the Indians spread out to occupy contested areas, ranchers got a court order and had them evicted by police.
Many Indians still believe Lula is better than the alternative, says Kleber Matos, who works for Lula's campaign when not on the job at the Education Ministry.
It helps when that alternative is Geraldo Alckmin, a politician from Brazil's industrial south who champions tax cuts and lower lending rates.
"Alckmin says he will increase aid to families but later on he will cut it," said Cesar Ferreiro de Sa, a Fulni-o Indian from the northeast who peddles handicrafts in Brasilia.