News-Letter Nr. 468

Calha Norte Program Invests in Invasion of Indigenous Lands

Indigenous leaders of the Serras region, in the Raposa/Serra do Sol indigenous area, state of Roraima, are apprehensive about what they describe as "intransigency" of the Army, which insists on building posts in indigenous lands. According to these leaders, this attitude represents a serious threat to their culture, tradition, and projects. During the seminar "Calha Norte 2001," which was held this week and for the second time in Roraima, colonel Roberto de Paula Avelino, manager of the Program, reiterated the decision of the Armed Forces to build military facilities for platoons at intervals of 400 km along the border. On the occasion, colonel Avelino reported that funds amounting to R$ 1.2 million had been earmarked for building a base for the 6th Border Platoon (PEF) in Uiramutã, located in the Serras region. Early this year, the Regional Federal Court (TRF) ruled against indigenous peoples by authorizing the Ministry of the Army to build the base.

The Armed Forces organized the seminar to report their actions in the Calha Norte area, focusing on issues related to "sovereignty, security, and social integrity," which are regarded as "aims" of the Calha Norte program. The program was created in the 1980s for purpose of militarizing the Brazilian borders in the states of Roraima, Amapá, part of Pará and Amazonas, which border Guyana, French Guyana, Surinam, Venezuela, Colombia and Peru. Presently, there are military facilities for 14 platoons in the Calha Norte area, and three additional bases are being built in Uiramutã, Tirió, and Ericó, in the Raposa/Serra do Sol (state of Roraima), Tirió (state of Pará), and Yanomami (Roraima) indigenous areas, respectively.

Vivified Border

Still according to colonel Avelino, the situation of the program is "favorable" because it is following a "well defined path" and has been redesigned to promote regional growth and create favorable conditions for rural populations not to be forced to leave rural areas for economic reasons as a result of what they refer to as the "vivified border." The Calha Norte program is making funds available for local city halls to build health care stations, schools, and other facilities.

According to colonel Avelino, about 42% of the funds earmarked for the program will be invested in "regional development" actions. Between June 2000 and July 2001, R$ 32 million have been invested, R$ 16 million of which in such development actions. The state of Roraima is the one that kept most of the funds - R$ 2.5 million - as a result of agreements signed with 13 city halls. In Pacaraima, a municipality illegally established in the São Marcos indigenous area of the Macuxi and Wapixana indigenous peoples, an interstate bus station will be built.

In Cimi's opinion, the so-called "vivified border" is a euphemism for the removal of indigenous people from their lands by settling people from other regions on them. For two decades the military have been insisting on the need to build military bases on the border and have been pursuing a policy of disregard for the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples. The Diocese of Roraima criticized the presence of the military in indigenous areas on the grounds that it interferes with the lifestyle of indigenous populations. Arrogantly, the colonel stated that "implementing military facilities for platoons in these areas is inevitable, since all the Amazon region is inhabited by indigenous people who live particularly in areas close to the border that need to be protected."

Cimi rejects the statement of the colonel and insists that indigenous people and their lands constitute in themselves a means for protecting the Brazilian border. "Indigenous lands are already considered lands of the Union and they do not prevent the Army from carrying out its constitutional functions. What has been questioned is how the Army has historically acted in a disrespectful and destructive manner. Therefore, indigenous lands represent a double protection for our borders," said Cimi's executive secretary, Egon Heck.

Brasília, 5 July 2001
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

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