Title: Opinion: Brazil Legalizes Indigenous Land Titles
Source: Environmental News Network
Status: Copyrighted, contact source for reprint permissions
Date: Fri Nov 28 19:23:39 EST 1997
Byline: By Beto Borges
SAN FRANCISCO, California, November 28, 1997 (ENS) - Four years behind
schedule on the Constitutional decision of 1988 to have all indigenous
lands in Brazil demarcated by October of 1993 (Article 67), the
federal government has taken another step in the right direction.
Presidential Decrees have now finalized the demarcation process for 22
indigenous territories in the Amazon region, totaling 8.6 million
hectares (33,196 square miles).
With this important initiative, the Indigenous Movement in Brazil has
achieved permanent legal title for 61.7% of all indigenous lands in
the country, which are distributed in 565 territories, encompassing
about 100 million hectares (396,000 square miles) or 11% of Brazil.
It is important to understand, however, that 21 out of these 22
territories, were already scheduled to be demarcated before President
Cardoso took office. This is not to diminish the importance of his
actions, but to put into perspective that it has taken too long to
complete these demarcations. There is still a lot to be done for the
current administration to uphold the constitutional rights of
indigenous peoples.
In January of 1996, President Cardoso approved Decree 1775 as an
attempt to improve the demarcation process by allowing conflicting
interests to appeal against the demarcation of indigenous territories.
Unfortunately, the new Decree brought the demarcation of indigenous
lands to a halt and seems to have generated an anti-indigenous
atmosphere throughout the country, which worsened on-going conflicts
with indigenous communities and encouraged new invasions on their
territories.
In addition, out of all the territories that were contested under
Decree 1775, eight still await the governmental decision between
securing indigenous rights or favoring economic interests. One of the
most controversial is the proposal to cut over 300,000 hectares (1,158
square miles) from the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous territory in the
state of Roraima, home for 12,000 indigenous peoples.
There are still 254 indigenous territories that await demarcation.
Justice Minister Iris Rezende recently told the newspaper O Estado de
Sao Paulo that the government will demarcate more 20 million hectares
(77,200 square miles) of indigenous lands by April 12. That is indeed
a positive sign.
On the other hand, the government has reduced the 1998 budget for
demarcations by 78%, leaving FUNAI (The National Foundation for the
Indian) only with the funds secured within the Pilot Program to
Conserve the Brazilian Rainforests, which is sponsored by the G-7
industrialized countries.
Hopefully, President Cardoso will close the year with more steps
towards upholding Article 231 of the Brazilian Constitution which
guarantees the rights of indigenous peoples.
As I write these lines, I receive good news from Brazil that a major
operation is in place to expel about 3,000 gold miners from the
Yanomami indigenous territory. I am also informed that Minister
Rezende will be participating in the First Assembly of the Tupinikim
and Guarani in the state of Esp¡rito Santo. These indigenous people
are currently in a conflict with Aracruz Cellulose over their
traditional lands. Hopefully, the Minister will uphold the
Constitution and order the demarcation of their lands.
Hopefully, 1998 will be a better year for the several indigenous
ethnicities who happen to be the traditional inhabitants of a land
that history transformed into Brazil.
{Beto Borges is an ecologist and Brazil Program Director for
Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco, California. Born in Sao
Paulo, Brazil, Borges has a degree in Natural Resource Management from
the University of California at Berkeley. He is the co-chair of the
Brazil Working Group of the Amazon Coalition in Washington DC.}
The Environment News Service is exclusively hosted by the EnviroLink
Network. Copyright c 1997 ENS, Inc.
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