News-Letter  Nr. 429

Brasilian Organisations Support Action of the Pemón in Venezuela

Brazilian organizations support the knocking down of electricity transmission towers by the Pemón indigenous people in Venezuela this week. Cimi and the Pro-Yanomami Commission have sent solidarity messages to entities fighting against the passage of the Guri transmission line over indigenous territories and the Conaima National Park, a heritage of humankind. The building of this electricity transmission line between Venezuela and Brazil will have irreversible negative impacts on the biodiversity, on indigenous communities in the Large Savannah of Venezuela, as well as on Brazilian indigenous communities.

On August 20, organizations making up the Coalición contra el Tenido Eléctrico sent a letter to the presidents of Venezuela and of Brazil, Hugo Chávez and Fernando Henrique Cardoso, warning them of the risks posed by the transmission line to the ecosystem and the Pemón. They demanded the interruption of the the project and the immediate review of the agreement between Electricidad del Caroní (Edelca) and Eletronorte for the sale of electricity. "[The project will] cause great damage to a zone known to be ecologically fragile and will pose risks for the basin that feeds the Guri Hydroelectric Power Plant. No programme, regardless of its benefits, should be in conflict with the well-being of the people," the entities say.

According to directors of Edelca, it´s the high time for the indigenous people to resort to such an action. "The Linhão (the transmission line) represents another act of violence by the electricity industry. The Pemón are showing their political awareness in their relentless fight to defend their rights and the environment," said the vice-president of Cimi, Saulo Feitosa.

In Brazil, the Guri transmission line crosses the São Marcos indigenous area, the territory of the Macuxi and Wapixana, in Roraima, and was designed to supply electricity to the Northern Region. Although the indigenous people developed an agreement with Eletronorte, the passage of the transmission line over their territory is unconstitutional, as it defies the provisions of paragraph 6 of article 231 of the Federal Constitution. Transmission lines can only be implemented in indigenous areas if the "relevant public interest of the Union" is duly confirmed. However, for that purpose, a complementary law must be passed by the National Congress first. "If president Fernando Henrique Cardoso respected the Constitution, he would instruct Eletronorte to redesign the transmission line, so that it would not cross the indigenous area," says Saulo Feitosa.

Funai Pressures Indians to Reduce Land

Cimi made representations to the attorney general in Ilhéus, Márcio Torres, requesting a civil and a police investigation to check the involvement of Funai's administrator in Eunápolis, Thomaz Wolney de Almeida, in actions to pressure the Pataxó to accept a proposal to have their land reduced. On Tuesday, the 19th, they took two Funai employees hostage in a reoccupied area in the municipality of Prado, in the south tip of the state of Bahia, to denounce the maneuvers of the official indigenous affairs agency. The hostages were released the following day, when Wolney took federal police officers to the site where they were being kept.

The representations made to the Office of the Attorney General are based on reports provided by the Pataxó that repeated meetings have been called by the administrator to persuade them to "redefine" the bounds to be demarcated in their area, so as to leave large farms and important tourist sites out of it. Strictly speaking, any discussions about the bounds of indigenous areas have to be surveyed by a Technical Group (GT) that was set up for this specific purpose. In the case of the Pataxó, the activities of the GT were interrupted last year for lack of funds. In Cimi's opinion, Funai's posture creates embarrassments for the indigenous community and enhances internal tensions and conflicts. Based on the reports of the Pataxó, one is led to consider that the interruption of the GT activities was politically oriented to defend the interests of economic groups of the region.

Brasília, 21 September 2000.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

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