News-Letter  Nr. 414

Terrorism continues in Roraima

Farmers in the Amajari region, 200 km from Boa Vista, in the north tip of the state of Roraima, continue to threaten missionaries of the diocese of Roraima and indigenous people living in the Ananás village. On March 4, Sirley Weber and Edna Pitarelli, missionaries of the Servants of the Holy Ghost congregation, and nine indigenous people, including three children, were ambushed as they headed to the village. The Diocesan car was stopped by force as it crossed a bridge over the Ereu River by a group of 30 men carrying clubs and knives who verbally abused the missionaries and forced them to get out of the car and walk to the village. The car was thrown from the bridge into the river. Although the Federal Police are investigating the incident and Amnesty International has launched a campaign in favor of the victims, the violence continues.

The son of the chief of the Ananás village, Gersino Wanderley, a teenager, was expelled from a local school as a result of the direct interference of farmer Luís Laranjeira, who threatened to have him beaten. In the same community, 38 people have no medical care, no access to medicines provided by a first-aid station, and no telephones to use when they need a doctor. The school and the first-aid station are located inside Luís Laranjeira's farm, one of the persons involved in the ambush. The indigenous people have to cross his property to get to their village.

On May 13, the same indigenous leader and his 10 years old son were not allowed to cross the property as they tried to take a herd of cattle from the Aninguau village to Ananás. They were stopped by farmers Hugo Cabral, Cáusio Coutinho and Chico Bessa near the same bridge where the ambush took place and were forced to take the cattle to another village - Cajueiro - 27 km away. The indigenous leader strongly asked them to let his son pass, explaining that he hadn't eaten anything for many hours, to no avail. They only managed to take the cattle to their village three days later, after the Federal Police intervened.

These recent acts of aggression show that the tension continues in the state of Roraima and that the lives of indigenous peoples and of their allies are at risk. A defamatory campaign against the Diocese of Roraima, Funai and indigenous people has been launched through billboards spread throughout the state capital. When they fail to win the support of politicians, the farmers resort to violence as a means to intimidate indigenous people and their supporters, as the incident with chief Gersino Wanderley clearly shows. Although psychologically affected, the chief says he will continue to fight for his land at any cost.

These conflicts, which have been encouraged by state politicians, are intended to prevent the demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous area as a continuous strip and to intimidate indigenous communities that are trying to put an end to the invasion of their lands. A solution must be defined for the land situation in the state urgently. The indigenous peoples of Roraima have the right to have their lands demarcated as a single area where they can live in peace according to their cultural traditions.

Brasília, 8 June 2000.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi



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