During the 1980s,
Aracruz Celulose –a multinational company which is today the
world’s largest producer of bleached eucalyptus pulp- took
over the lands of the indigenous Tupinikim and Guarani indigenous
peoples in the state of Espirito Santo and planted them with eucalyptus
trees. Those were the days of a military dictatorship in Brazil
and resistance was impossible.
But now the situation
has changed, and on 17 May 2005, nearly 500 indigenous Tupinikim
and Guarani from the municipality of Aracruz (Espírito Santo)
initiated the self-demarcation of their land. The demarcation included
the cutting of thousands of eucalyptus trees to clearly mark the
borders of the indigenous territories. On 21 May the demarcation
is finished and the indigenous peoples demand the legal recognition
of their lands.
They claim that
the Minister of Justice, Márcio Thomas Bastos, guarantees
the demarcation of 18, 070 hectares of indigenous land recognized
as such by conclusive studies of FUNAI (government agency for indigenous
peoples affairs). Of these 18,070 hectares, 11,008 have not yet
been demarcated and are in the hands of the multinacional Aracruz
Celulose. The Federal Public Prosecution Service of Espírito
Santo recommended, through the principal Attorney General, Cláudio
Fonteles, that the Minister of Justice creates a new decree of demarcation
which guarantees the Tupinikim and Guarani rights to the 18,070
hectares.
The commission
of Tupinikim and Guarani chiefs and leaders sent an open letter
to the Minister of Justice explaining the motives behind their actions.
They declare that “with this act, we want to express to you
and to the entire Brazilian nation that the land belongs to the
Tupinikim and Guarani nations, and should be returned so that we
may construct our own future, guaranteeing our liberty and autonomy,
and the future of our children and grandchildren.”
In solidarity with
the action of the indigenous, the Movimento dos Pequenos Agricultores
(MPA) (Movement of Small Farmers) of Espírito Santo is mobilizing
400 small farmers, including organizations, movements and churches
who are part of the Alert against the Green Desert Movement, to
protest in front of the Aracruz Celulose factory. The demonstrators
closed the entry of the trucks, loaded with eucalyptus, to the pulp
mills. The aim of the protest is to denounce Aracruz Celulose as
an indigenous rights violator and a symbol of agrobusiness and of
large landholders within Espírito Santo.
The struggle is
not yet over. Aracruz is a very powerful company that will do the
utmost to maintain in its hands the lands that legitimaly belong
to these two Indigenous Nations. The Tupinikim and Guarani therefore
need all the support they can get.
For more information
about how to support their struggle, please visit the web page of
the Network Alert Against the Green Desert at: http://www.desertoverde.org/
