News-Letter  Nr. 421

Guarani Community May be Evicted from Preoccupied Land Area

Businessman Carlos Francisco Zimmer won a preliminary order for repossession of the Araça'í indigenous area, occupied by the Guarani early this month. In his decision, federal judge Roberto Fernandes Junior, of Chapecó, determined that Funai has a deadline of 45 days to remove the indigenous community from the area and set up a Technical Group to begin studies to identify and delimit the area in question immediately. If the Guarani fail to leave the area within this deadline, they will be removed by the police. In the Action for Repossession he filed, the businessman accused Cimi of inciting the Guarani against the legal order and claimed that there has never been "any indigenous village" in the region in question. He relies on the support of the mayor of the municipality of Saudades, Arno Schwendler, who opposes the reoccupation of the area by the indigenous community.

On July 21, during a meeting attended by diocesan bishop d. Manoel João Francisco, by the local parish priest, and by representatives of the Federal Police, Funai, Cimi, of the mayor of Cunha Porã, and of the population of the two municipalities, Arno Schwendler suggested that other organizations were behind the reoccupation to discredit the indigenous action. When priest José spoke in support of the rights of the Guarani, part of the community left the meeting after being incited by the mayor of Saudades to show hostile feelings.

The Araça'í indigenous area was reoccupied on July 10. About 200 Guarani occupied 49 hectares of the area, where a sawmill owned by Carlos Francisco Zimmer was illegally set up. The land was bought by the company Colonizadora Sul Brasil. In the 1920s, the state of Santa Catarina donated large land areas for companies to colonize the region. Many of these lands were inhabited by indigenous people, who ended up being violently expelled from them and were forced to live in other villages. However, as they became aware of their rights, they decided to reoccupy the area. The historical presence of the Guarani in the region has been confirmed by historical documents and by the presence of at least two indigenous cemeteries inside the disputed area. The Guarani of the Araça'í area are being supported by other Guarani villages and by the Kaingang of the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul.

Federal Judge Requests Report on Raposa/Serra do Sol Area

Another appeal has been filed against the official ratification of the bounds of the Raposa/Serra do Sol area. Federal judge Helder Girão Barreto set up an interdisciplinary committee to prepare a technical-scientific report on the demarcation of the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous area. The report was requested to justify a judicial decision in connection with a Class Action filed by lawyers Silvino Lopes da Silva, Alcides da Conceição Lima Filho, and Luis Hitler Britto de Lucena against administrative ruling n. 820, of December 1997, which determined that the area was to be demarcated as a continuous strip. Judge Helder Girão Barreto said that the technical-scientific report is necessary because the decision is "too complex."

The lawyers who represent the interests of farmers in the lawsuit argue that the demarcation of Raposa/Serra do Sol in a continuous 1.6-million-hectare area "meets the interests of foreign powers that intend to internationalize the Amazon" and that these powers are using Non-Governmental Organizations and Funai to fulfill their purposes. In Cimi's opinion, such argument is a fallacy. The evidence and reports produced so far are enough for the federal government to legalize the area, and there is no need for a federal court to request an additional report.

According to the Indigenous Council of Roraima (CIR), the position of the judge is worrying, because although the Class Action was filed in January 1996, it had long been forgotten. CIR finds it strange that it was brought back to life precisely when the community is fighting to have its land officially recognized. Cimi insists that there is no impediment to the official ratification of the bounds of the Raposa/Serra do Sol area and expects the federal government to legalize the situation of the area and to remove all non-indigenous invaders immediately.

Brasília, 27 July 2000.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi





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