Victories
of peoples’ resistance in Peru and Brazil
At a time when large corporate interests are
gaining control over ever more land and resources, it is refreshing
to hear news of victories won through the tenacious resistance of
local communities.
In Peru, within the framework of the implementation
of the free trade agreement with the United States, the government
of President Alan García has passed more than 30 laws and decrees
aimed at extending the frontier of extractive activities in the
Amazon region. These laws were intended to dismantle community rights
and communities themselves, by facilitating the sale of their lands
through more flexible mechanisms for the division and sale of collectively
owned lands and the withdrawal of the special protections these
lands once enjoyed. Ultimately, the goal was to strip the Amazon
peoples of their territory to such a voracious extent that there
was even talk of granting concessions over lowlands and riverbanks
where poor people grow their rice or corn. These efforts where enthusiastically
backed by the agrofuel, tree plantation, oil and mining industries
(see WRM Bulletin No. 129).
One of the companies that hoped to benefit from
this process was CMPC, a Chilean pulp and paper company. CMPC owns
vast tracts of pine and eucalyptus plantations in Chile that were
established in Mapuche indigenous territories during the Pinochet
dictatorship. Referring to CMPC’s plans to invest millions of dollars
in Peru, Fernando Léniz, former minister of finance under Pinochet
and current president of Corporación Chilena de la Madera, a national
association of wood producers, stated: “Over there [in Peru] there
is a better labour climate and better control against violence.
This idea that pressure groups can achieve their demands though
violence and illegality is doing a lot of harm to Chile.” Mr. Léniz
was alluding here to the legitimate struggle of the Mapuche people
to regain control over their ancestral lands.
But neither Mr. Léniz nor the Peruvian government
were expecting the forceful response of the peoples of the Amazon
in defence of their rights. On 8 August, more than 3,000 indigenous
and campesino protestors from various parts of the Amazon region
declared an indefinite national strike against the new legislation.
On 22 August, as a result of this massive opposition
and protest, the Peruvian Congress repealed Legislative Decrees
1015 and 1073, which the government had attempted to impose in violation
of the collective rights of indigenous peoples and for the benefit
of powerful economic groups. The indigenous victory in Peru is a
clear demonstration of power against those who would attempt to
destroy the Amazon, and has blocked the way to the establishment
of large-scale monoculture tree plantations in the region, at least
for the time being.
Meanwhile, in Brazil, a historic court decision
has reinforced the popular struggle against eucalyptus monoculture
plantations. On 28 August, the Court of Justice passed and unanimously
upheld a decision that ordered the immediate suspension of eucalyptus
planting in the municipality of São Luiz do Paraitinga, São Paulo,
in view of the disastrous environmental and social impacts of the
industrial expansion of this monoculture. The suspension is to remain
in effect until the transnational companies operating the existing
plantations carry out environmental impact assessments in all of
the areas where they are located, along with mandatory public hearings
with the rural populations affected by them. Violation of this decision
will be punished with a fine of 10,000 reals (around 6,000 U.S.
dollars) per day.
In another landmark decision, the Court of Justice
also rejected a motion filed by the São Luiz District Attorney’s
Office that sought to prevent the Public Defender’s Office from
monitoring compliance with the decision and challenged its right
to take part in the proceedings. The Court of Justice unanimously
found that the Public Defender’s Office not only can but must act
on behalf of the population with regard to environmental issues.
Public Defender Wagner Giron, who filed the suit,
declared that the companies that own the eucalyptus plantations,
particularly Votorantim Celulose e Papel and Suzano Papel e Celulose,
“do not respect any environmental norms whatsoever. They plant the
trees on mountains, in native forests, encroaching on springs and
drying up waterways. There have already been cases of poisoning
of human beings and deaths of fish and animals here, all as a result
of this violation of environmental norms.” (1)
It should be stressed that eucalyptus plantations
currently cover around 20% of the municipality of São Luiz.
Victories like these in Peru and Brazil are like
rays of hope that light the way for the legitimate resistance struggles
of local communities around the world.
Article based on the following sources:
Peru: Interviews with Vladimir Pinto (vladimirpinto@gmail.com)
and Paul Mcauley, Loretana Environmental Network (redambientalloretana@yahoo.com);
“Perú: Un Importante Triunfo de los Pueblos Indígenas Amazónicos”,
Mapuexpress, Informativo Mapuche, available at:
http://www.mapuexpress.net/?act=news&id=3164&
PHPSESSID=847e1084eea7a047e12fd762591bd28a
Brazil: Interview with Geise Pereira, FASE-ES (geise.fase@terra.com.br);
(1) “Brasil: Tribunal de Justiça suspende plantio de eucalipto em
município de SP”, available at:
http://www.biodiversidadla.org/content/view/full/39528
