The
Tupinikim and Guarani peoples reconquer
their lands
Introduction
On
27 August 2007, Tarso Genro, the Brazilian Minister of Justice,
signed the ministerial resolutions delimiting the Tupinikim (14,227
hectares) and Comboios (3,800 hectares) Indigenous Lands, totalizing
18,027 hectares.
According
to the resolutions, the Brazilian Government recognizes that the
lands have traditionally been occupied by the Tupinikim and Guarani
peoples and that, over the past 40 years, they had been illegally
occupied by Aracruz Cellulose.
It
was a victory of indigenous resistance against the economic and
political power of the company and its many allies. A victory
of life and a defeat, although localized, of monoculture plantations
and the green desert. It was also a victory of national and international
solidarity encouraging and filling with hope all those who are
struggling for their rights and who believe in the construction
of a fairer and more equal society.
Over
these past 40 years, neither the successive Governments nor the
company were able to break down this resistance. The use of police
force, unlawful agreements and financial compensations could not
prevent the communities from continuing their struggle to recover
their lands and to guarantee an autonomous territory without the
economic dependency that the company has always tried to impose
on them.
The
resistance struggle
The
process of occupation of indigenous lands by Aracruz Cellulose
started at the end of the sixties and very quickly caused a profound
breaking down of social, economic and cultural forms, particularly
in the case of the Tupinikim, almost leading to their extinction.
Their lands were immediately expropriated and almost all their
villages destroyed (of some 40 villages only Caieiras Velhas,
Pau Brasil and Comboios were left). The replacement of native
forests by eucalyptus made their traditional subsistence practices
unviable. Rivers and streams dried up and the few left were contaminated
by agrochemicals used by the company.
Fenced
in by the eucalyptus trees and with few alternatives for economic
survival the Tupinikim and Guarani decided to act. In 1980, while
the military dictatorship was in full swing, they carried out
the first self-demarcation of their lands and recovered 6,500
hectares. The following year, an agreement between the military
government and the company reduced this area to 4,491 hectares.
In
1993, the indigenous peoples claimed an extension of their lands
from FUNAI (the state agency for indigenous issues). Studies by
this organization carried out between 1994 and 1997 recognized
their rights and the need to extend the land by some 13,579 hectares.
However, in 1998 the Brazilian Government yielded once again to
the company’s interests and agreed to the demarcation of some
scant 2,571 hectares.
Rising
up against this Governmental decision, the indigenous peoples
carried out their second self-demarcation. When they were about
to conclude the demarcation of 13,579 hectares, the federal government
ordered the Federal Police to intervene. The villages were occupied
by the police, the defenders of the indigenous cause were arrested
and brought to trial and the indigenous leaders were taken to
Brasilia and obliged to sign an unlawful agreement with the company.
In exchange for the reduction of their lands they received monetary
compensation.
Seven
years later, the Tupinikim and Guarani decided to breach this
agreement. On 19 February 2005, some 350 indigenous people, gathered
in a General Assembly, with the slogan of “Our Land, Our Freedom”,
resolved to recover the 11,009 hectares in the hands of Aracruz
Cellulose.
On
17 May they started their 3rd self-demarcation. A few
days later they rebuilt the villages of Olho D´Água and Córrego
do Ouro, two of the almost 40 villages destroyed by the company
at the end of the sixties.
At
the same time, the Federal Public Ministry of Espirito
Santo (MPF-ES) launched a public civil investigation, during which
various unlawful actions undertaken in the 1998 demarcation came
to light. The Ministry immediately sent recommendations to the
President of the Republic and to the Ministry of Justice to proceed
with demarcation of the remaining 11,009 hectares.
Since
then the indigenous people carried out a number of actions to
have the Ministry of Justice enforce the MPF-ES recommendations.
In
2005 they occupied Aracruz Cellulose’s factories for 2 days. This
action was coordinated by the Chiefs’ Commission and had wide
international repercussions.
In
January 2006 the indigenous people were surprised by a violent
Federal Police operation, enforcing a legal decision to return
ownership to the company. This action, considered to be unlawful
by the MPF-ES caused the destruction of the villages of Olho D´Água
and Córrego do Ouro, during which 13 indigenous people were injured.
One of the main irregularities noted was the active participation
of Aracruz Cellulose, originator of the legal action and consequently
benefitting from its enforcement.
The
police operation turned out to be a blunder made by the federal
government and the company, due to its international repercussions
and to the action launched by MPF-ES against the federal government
because of the existence of countless irregularities. The federal
government quickly attempted to correct its mistake. During a
public meeting of the Espirito
Santo Legislative Assembly, the then minister of Justice, Marcio
Thomaz Bastos, promised to conclude demarcation of the 11,009
hectares before the end of 2006.
However,
the administrative process continued at a slow pace. The indigenous
people then decided to carry out further actions having a high
impact. In September 2006, over a period of 15 days, they slashed
and burnt 100 hectares of eucalyptus trees to show that, contrary
to accusations, they were not interested in the trees and that
the struggle was to recover their lands. The company’s reaction
was immediate. A defamatory and racist campaign against the indigenous
people invaded the streets, the schools and the shops in the city
of Aracruz, and even involved other companies in the region. Posters
were put up in the main streets of the city publicizing racist
and offensive slogans against the indigenous people. Two important
demonstrations took place, one in Aracruz and the other in the
state capital, Vitoria. An action brought by MPF-ES, and backed
by Justice, condemned the company for the crimes of racism and
defamation, obliging it to retreat. In spite of this, the campaign
had succeeded in putting part of the Aracruz population against
the indigenous people.
Weakened
but not intimidated, the indigenous people occupied the port from
where the company’s pulp is exported (Portocel) to step up pressure
on the Minister of Justice. However the company managed to mobilize
some 1500 company and outsourced workers, removing the indigenous
people by force, which almost led to their massacre.
In
January 2007 the former Minister of Justice, although he had all
the necessary elements to sign the ministerial resolutions for
delimitation of indigenous lands, returned the files to FUNAI
for this organization to seek an understanding (agreement) between
the parties. In turn, FUNAI, refused to do so, but the Federal
Justice of the city of Linhares (ES) decided to take on the task
and ordered the parties to come to an agreement over the lands.
Following two attempts, frustrated by the firm position of the
indigenous people, the negotiation process was concluded and the
decision on the dispute again sent to the executive.
On
5 July this year, FUNAI sent the proceedings to the Ministry of
Justice and on this occasion, the minister, in an act of great
steadfastness and political skill, signed the resolutions guaranteeing
the Tupinikim and Guarani people the rights over the 11,009 hectares
of land, thus putting an end to an almost 40 year old dispute.
A few days later the indigenous people had again reconstructed
the villages of Olho D´Água and Areal as further proof of their
resistance, courage and determination.
By
Fabio Martins Villas, e-mail: fabio.villas@bol.com.br,
Fase/ES and Rede Alerta contra o Deserto Verde (Alert Against
the Green Desert Network)
