BRAZIL'S INDIANS - PART III: LAND DISPUTES AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001000

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PGOV SOCI ECON BR TIP
SUBJECT: BRAZIL'S INDIANS - PART III: LAND DISPUTES AND
VIOLENCE

REF: A. BRASILIA 0941


B. BRASILIA 0946

C. BRASILIA 0985


1. (U) This is Part III of a three-part series about Indians
in Brazil. This cable discusses current land disputes. Part
I (ref B) provided an overview and Part II (ref C) discussed
concerns of indigenous leaders.


2. (U) Summary. The government of Brazil is facing
unhappiness among indigenous communities who are demanding
that the land demarcation process be sped up. The Indians'
land claims are often in conflict with farmers' interests
and, in some cases, the GOB would have to expropriate land to
which farmers have title. In the northern state of Roraima,
the governor has opposed the creation of large reservation
that would displace rice farmers. The governor, who briefly
joined President Lula's Workers' Party (PT) last year, has
urged Lula to reject the Indian affairs agency (FUNAI)
proposal and called instead for the creation of an
"archipelago" of reservations that would permit farmers to
have continued access to land they currently cultivate.
Indian leaders and activist argue that the "archipelago"
reservation would condemn the Indians to poverty and leave
them vulnerable to invasions by prospectors, hunters, and
farmers. In Mato Grosso do Sul state several indigenous
communities have adopted the Landless Movement's (MST)
occupation tactics in an effort to force the GOB to cede land
to them. End summary.

Governor Fights Contiguous Indian Reservation
--------------

3. (U) One of the most controversial indigenous land disputes
in Brazil is in the northern state of Roraima, where state
political leaders, 67 non-Indian farmers, a handful of
Indians, and some military officers have opposed the
demarcation of a 1,750,000 hectare (eight percent of the
state's total land area) reservation for 14,000 Indians along
the border with Venezuela and Guyana. Rice planters, whose
production accounts for 10 percent of the state's economy,
oppose the creation of the "Raposa Serra do Sol" reservation
in a contiguous configuration, because that would require
them to vacate much of the farmland they currently have under
cultivation.


4. (U) The farmers, Roraima Governor Flamarion Portela, and
the state's federal Senators are instead proposing to break
the reservation up into "islands" to allow for expanded
state-directed economic development. Portela has complained
bitterly about governing a "virtual state," because the GoB
--either through FUNAI or the environmental protection agency
IBAMA-- controls more than half of the state's land. In
March 2003, Portela switched to Lula's Workers' Party (PT)
allegedly after getting a GoB commitment to the archipelago
configuration. In December, Portela was asked to leave the
PT to defend himself against charges of massive corruption.
He is now "without party".


5. (U) In 1999, opponents of the contiguous reservation plan
sued to stop the demarcation process. In March 2004, a
federal judge in Roraima ruled in their favor and placed an
injunction against the creation of the reservation. The
ruling does not, however, prevent the immediate registration
of the reservation as a whole. The Solicitor General, the
Ministry of Justice, FUNAI, and a federal prosecutor in
Roraima have all announced they will appeal the decision.

Defense Minister Questions Reservations Along the Border
-------------- --------------

6. (U) Defense Minister Viegas has his own reasons to oppose
the reservation. He argues that the federal government needs
access to the international border, which he believes would
be threatened by the creation of the Roraima reservation. In
congressional testimony on March 4, Viegas warned against an
"overly broad interpretation of indigenous land, above all in
the border regions," which "could pave the way for future
demands for the establishment of 'indigenous nations' with a
legal structure different" from the rest of Brazil. He
concluded, "I adamantly oppose this concept". Viegas said
the armed forces need to "revitalize" their presence on the
northern border, which "is not adequately occupied,
demographically or productively" because of Indian
reservations and nature preserves and that this "reduces the
State's own capacity" to fight transnational and
environmental crimes. He also argued that the reservations
and environmental preserves make it difficult to build
infrastructure projects that would permit greater
development.

Justice Minister and FUNAI Chief Defend Reservation
-------------- --------------

7. (U) On March 3, Minister of Justice Marcio Thomaz Bastos
guaranteed in a Senate hearing that the contiguous
demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation would be
finalized. At the same hearing, responding to critical
comments from Senators from Roraima, Amazonas, and Mato
Grosso do Sul states, FUNAI President Mercio Pereira was
dismissive of arguments that the various Indian groups might
fight among themselves if placed on one large reservation,
rather than several smaller ones. He cited an example where
twelve different languages are spoken in one reservation,
saying the reservation in that contiguous form, "only brought
benefits."

NGOs call National Security A "False Controversy"
-------------- --------------

8. (SBU) According to Andre Lima, head of the Brazilian NGO
"Instituto Socio-Ambiental", which advocates for
environmental and Indian rights, "It is a false controversy."
He notes that the rice farmers arrived after the land had
already been demarcated by FUNAI. (In 1970 only 41,000
non-Indians lived in the state. Today, largely as a result
of government incentives, the population has grown to
360,000.) Therefore, the farmers cannot be considered to
have entered the land in "good faith" and have no
constitutional rights to it. Indian interlocutors accuse the
state government of establishing a small town and several
small villages in the middle of the reservation and providing
government jobs to some Indians to prevent the federal
government from registering the territory.


9. (SBU) With respect to DefMin Viegas' national security
argument, Lima noted that the Constitution guarantees the
federal government access to Indian lands. Indeed, former
President Cardoso issued an executive decree in 2002 spelling
out the right of the military and police to access Indian
lands. In fact, a number of army units are based on Indian
reservations today. Moreover, there already exist large
demarcated indigenous territories along the border with Peru,
where the "military access" argument has never been a
concern. According to Antonio da Silva Apurina, Director of
Assistance Programs for FUNAI, the real obstacles to
demarcating the Roraima reservation are "economic and
political interests."

Mato Grosso do Sul Land Occupations
--------------

10. (U) In late 2003 and early 2004, approximately 4,000
Caiovas-Guarani Indians occupied several farms in the
southern state of Mato Grosso do Sul for months, arguing that
the land historically belongs to them. They ultimately
complied with a judicial order to vacate the land. During
the tense stand-off, a farmer, his wife, and their
daughter-in-law were briefly taken hostage by the Indians,
and one Indian was wounded by gunfire.


11. (SBU) The Indian land occupations in Mato Grosso do Sul
are more complicated than the Roraima situation, according to
Lima. The farmers have been on the land for several
generations and have land titles issued by the state (in many
cases improperly) and so many could be considered to have
occupied the land "in good faith", meaning they are entitled
to compensation for improvements made to the land. The
government does not have the resources to compensate them and
is therefore unable to evict them.


12. (SBU) The Mato Grosso do Sul occupations were the result
of Indian impatience with the official process and an attempt
to borrow the tactics of the Landless Movement (MST).
Guarani tribal leaders say they are facing a suicide epidemic
because they have been forced to live on small reservations
that prevent them from following traditional customs or
economic development. FUNAI President Pereira told Poloff
that he is sympathetic to the Indians, but acknowledged that
it will be impossible to turn back the clock and give them a
significant portion of their lands back. The region's
booming soy economy makes such an outcome all but impossible,
he said.

Indians and Farmers Use Violence in Land Disputes
-------------- --------------

13. (U) While the Roraima and Mato Grosso do Sul cases are on
the front pages, they are not the only cases of Indian
disputes in Brazil:

- On January 12, thirty Pankararu Indians invaded the FUNAI
headquarters in Recife in the northeast to protest the
dismissal of an agency director. Three Indians were arrested.

- In January, more than 100 Guajajara Indians blocked a
highway in Maranhao in the northeast to protest what they see
as encroachment on their land. State military police were
called in to break up the demonstration.

- On February 16, a farmer was shot and killed and six others
taken hostage by a group of 200 Caingangues Indians in the
southern state of Santa Catarina, as a result of tension over
land distribution. The Indians are demanding that their
reservation be expanded. FUNAI supports their demand, but
the Indians are impatient with delays.

- On February 24, prospectors in Roraima shot and killed an
Indian who worked for FUNAI and was investigating illegal
invasions of Yanomami Indian land in the northeast part of
the state. An investigation is ongoing.

-- On April 7, twenty-nine illegal diamond prospectors were
massacred on an Indian reservation in Rondonia state (ref A).

Comment
--------------

14. (SBU) President Lula faces a growing Indian affairs
policy dilemma. Despite several cabinet meetings addressing
the Roraima reservation issue, he has put off a decision at
least until late April. As in other policy spheres, he faces
severely conflicting pressures. While agribusiness and
political allies want to reduce the size of some reservations
proposed by FUNAI, Indian leaders and activists want faster
action to finish the demarcation process. The Rondonia
massacre and Roraima demarcation may now force him to show
his hand and take a firm stand. End Comment.
HRINAK