News-Letter Nr. 482

State Representative Receives Death Threat For Defending Indigenous Cause

State representative Gilney Vianna (Worker's Party - PT- State of Mato Grosso), chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the State Legislature, requested police protection from the Public Security secretariat of the State, Benedito Corbelino, because of a series of death threats he has been receiving. According to the representative, he is being threatened because of his position in defense of the demarcation of indigenous lands in the State. Last week, Vianna acted as mediator in a conflict involving the Terena people, Funai and Incra. On the occasion, the indigenous people took seven journalists hostage and blocked the BR 163 and BR 364 highways, located in the municipality of Pau Brazil, south region of the state. The indigenous people want their lands to be demarcated at a faster pace.

Almost a week after the roads were blocked, the Terena accepted an agreement under which a Technical Group was set up by Funai and Incra. This group has already begun to study six areas in the region, one of which one will be set apart for this indigenous community. Gilney Vianna was appointed interlocutor of this group. After these actions, the parliamentarian began to receive more threats and also messages "advising" him to forget about the indigenous issue.

In the region known as "Xavante corridor," located between the municipalities of Água Boa, Nova Xavantina, Campinápolis, and Nova Nazaré, in the Lower Araguaia river, the climate is tense. The eleven councilmen of the municipality of Água Boa rejected the decision to establish the Technical Group and sent formal letters of protest to the governor of the state of Mato Grosso, Dante de Oliveira, to state and federal representatives, and to senators. On September 17, the same councilmen unanimously approved a Motion against Gilney Vianna accusing him of "conspiring with several NGOs" to demarcate indigenous lands and "jeopardize" the state.

Cimi sympathizes with representative Gilney Vianna and denounces the attempt of oligarchic sectors of the state to hinder the actions of supporters of the indigenous cause and criminalize those who defend the traditional rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Kaiová Indigenous People Reoccuppy Farm and Threathen to Commit Collective Suicide

Over 200 Kaiová indigenous people of theTaquara traditional territory reoccupied this week the main facilities of the Brasília do Sul farm, located in the municipality of Juti, south region of the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, 308 km from the capital, Campo Grande. It was an act of protest against Funai, as the indigenous people are outraged with a decision of federal judge Renato Toniasso, of the Federal Court of Dourados, to issue a preliminary order for repossession determining the eviction of the Kaiová from an area they have lived in in the past two years. The preliminary order has not been complied with, but it would not have been issued in the first place if Funai had published a report identifying and demarcating the indigenous land as it should have done already. Historical documents confirmed that the indigenous people were evicted from this land circa 1953, whereupon the area was invaded by farmers during the establishment of settlements in Brazil's rural areas.

The Kaiová occupied the main facilities of the farm, took the Funai employee José Nairton hostage and expelled 26 families of non-indigenous people from the land. Knowing that they were faced with an imminent conflict with the police, the Kaiová braced themselves to defend their families and territory and threatened to commit collective suicide if they are forced to leave the area. In the last 10 years, the Kaiová began to reoccupy lands that were stolen from them. Although Mato Grosso do Sul is one of the richest states in Brazil in terms of agriculture and livestock, its indigenous peoples are living in utter poverty, are forced to beg, and suffer ethnic prejudice and discrimination.

Brasília, 11 October 2001.
Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

For more details on the text you may want to contact Cimi directly under e-mail:



Webmaster Pro REGENWALD

We're happy to receive your comments or answer your questions. Please , if you want to contribute to this work