Brazil:
Indigenous representatives campaign in Europe to recover their land
occupied by Aracruz Celulose
Paulo Henrique de Oliveira,
a Tupinikim leader of Caieiras Velhas
and Coordinator of the Articulação de Povos e Organizações Indígenas
do Nordeste, Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo - APOINME (Articulation
of Indigenous People and Organizations from the Northeast, Minas
Gerais and Espírito Santo), and Antônio
Carvalho, a Guarani chief, travelled to Europe in April/May 2006,
to publicise their struggle to demarcate Tupinikim and Guarani lands
in Espírito Santo (see WRM Bulletins Nº 94, 96, 102, 103) . They
spent three weeks travelling to Norway, Holland, Germany and Austria
where they talked to various groups about the 11,009 hectares of
their land currently in the possession of Aracruz Celulose --Brazil’s
giant pulp producer. The following is Paulo de Oliveira’s account
of the trip.
“We left Brazil on
25 April, aiming to show what is happening with indigenous people
in Brazil, and more specifically in the State of Espírito Santo,
where the indigenous territory is occupied by a multinational company,
Aracruz Celulose S.A., in which some European countries, among other
countries, hold shares.
In Norway, a country
which invests 34 million Norwegian crowns (approximately 4.5 million
Euros) in the company, we held a meeting with the Bank of Norway,
with members of the Parliament and with the Council of Ethics of
the Government Pension Fund. We asked them to withdraw all the investments
they hold in the company.
Some of the factories
that buy pulp from Aracruz are based in Germany. There we took part
in meetings with some of these companies, with the Forest Stewarship
Council (part of Aracruz’s operations were certified by FSC as well
managed), with the Ministry of Development, with members of the
Parliament of the Green Party and with some NGOs. We talked
about the disrespect shown by Aracruz Celulose for the indigenous
people and for the Brazilian Constitution, which guarantees Indigenous
Rights. We asked the various people and organisation that we met
to put pressure on Aracruz so that it returns the lands, respects
the decision of the Minister of Justice and that the Brazilian government
demarcates the Tupinikim and Guarani lands as soon as possible and
enforces the Brazilian Constitution.
During the trip, we
were able to have many discussions with other NGOs, to strengthen
our struggle and our organization, as well as to see that the Europeans
are very sensitive towards the indigenous cause and that they make
all efforts to help us. For example, the children of a school we
visited willingly polished shoes to raise funds to help us in our
struggle.
However, I hope that
the politicians, the companies, the Ministry of Development, the
FSC and the Bank we visited are able to fulfil their promises, and
that Aracruz returns the lands. I hope that the government speeds
up the process of demarcation and that we may continue our struggle,
helping our brothers and sisters who fight for their lands, for
their rights, for their dignity, because our struggle does not end
here. This is just the beginning of a struggle for a better life
and a better planet.”
The struggle of the
Tupinikin and Guarani peoples seems to bear fruit. Such has been
the international discredit of Aracruz for its usurpation of indigenous
land that the company itself has recently announced that it decided
to “request the voluntary temporary withdrawal
of FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification of the forests
[eucalyptus
plantations] pertaining
to its Guaíba Unit located in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. This
certification, which was obtained before the acquisition of this
unit, had previously been revalidated three consecutive times and
was to expire in December 2006.”
What has this to do
with the struggle in Espirito Santo? Aracruz itself
acknowledges the link. In its press release
(at
http://www.aracruz.com.br/web/en/imprensa/noticias/noticias178.htm)
it states that “some stakeholders had expressed concern to the FSC
about the revalidation of the UG certificate — not related to forestry
management in Rio Grande do Sul, but rather a land dispute between
the company’s Barra do Riacho Unit (more than 2,000 km away) and
indigenous communities in the State of Espírito Santo”.
This is clearly a damage control operation. In this way, Aracruz
is acknowledging the success of the indigenous peoples’ campaign
in generating international support to their struggle to recover
their lands and is trying to avoid broadening opposition within
the FSC certification arena.
While this issue is
developing, Aracruz tries to conceal its
real face with big money that can hire
broadcasting spaces to capture huge global audiences. A new nationwide
propaganda in the current World
Football Cup
shows national
celebrities, like former football player Pelé, playing a ball to
each other, while a voice says: “Aracruz: fazendo um papel bonito
lá fora”, meaning in English “Aracruz: playing a nice role out
there” (there’s a world play since in
Portuguese the word “papel” has the double meaning of "role"
and "paper",
the end product of the cellulose produced by Aracruz).
Nothing more far from
reality, and local communities know it well. On June 16, in Jacutinga,
a community at Linhares, north of Espírito Santo, seven tractors
of the company were put in motion to pull down part of the Brazilian
Mata Atlântica forest. The action was carried out on a holiday,
but was nothwithstanding deterred by the firm resistance of pesants
from the Movement of Small Peasants who have been protecting the
area for more than twenty years (see report from
the Alert against
the Green Desert Movement
at
http://www.wrm.org.uy/countries/Brazil/Aracruz_World_Cup.doc).
