Thought this may of interest to some folks.
Peter J Unmack
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 03 Sep 1997 13:37:36 +0900
From: James Albert <albert at nms.ac.jp>
To: nia-net at cr-am.rnp.br
Subject: [nia-net] BIOD: Amazonian Peoples Speak Out
Amazonian Indigenous Peoples Speak Out on Development Issues
9/1/97
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY
Indigenous peoples from three Amazon countries recently convened a
meeting of tribal leaders to condemn large-scale development schemes
in the Amazon. Most notably, increased road construction and plans for
industrial logging. Calls for continued land demarcation of
traditional lands, and secure title for tribal peoples to their lands
were key demands. Following are three items from the international
media.
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ITEM #1
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyright 1997 by source, contact for reprint permissions
Date: 8/30/97
Byline: MICHAEL CHRISTIE
Newsgroups: misc.activism.progressive
Subject: AMAZON INDIANS DEMAND DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS
Date: 31 Aug 1997 21:11:58 GMT
BOA VISTA, Brazil (August 30, 1997 7:22 p.m. EDT) - Indians from three
Amazon countries on Saturday united in defense against major
international development projects they say threaten their lands and
their lives.
At the end of the first ever summit of indigenous leaders form Brazil,
Venezuela and Guyana, the Indians demanded their land rights be
recognized before the countries proceed with cross-border road and
electricity transmission projects.
"Our call is for demarcation and respect of indigenous land because
land is our life," said David James, president of Guyana's Amerindian
Peoples Association (APA).
The four-day meeting in Boa Vista, capital of Brazil's northernmost
state of Roraima, was called because of fears about the ecological and
social impacts of billion-dollar regional integration projects.
Spurred by economic stability, particularly in Brazil, the road and
energy plans seek to develop the backward region but also threaten to
destroy pristine rain forest.
Topping the list of concerns is a planned electricity line from
Venezuela's Guri dam to Boa Vista. It would pass through Venezuela's
Canaima national park and Brazil's Sao Marcos Indian reserve in
Roraima.
Similarly, Brazil and Venezuela are paving the BR-174 highway form
Brazil's Amazonian capital of Manaus to the Venezuelan capital
Caracas, affecting several Indian reserves. Finally, the planned
Linden-Lethem road from Manaus to Georgetown, Guyana, would pass near
at least three Indian communities.
"We demand land titles and demarcation before they proceed with any
development projects," said Jose Poyo, president of the Venezuelan
Indians Confederation, Conive.
"We are not against progress," added APA's James. "But we must
question who does it benefit? In most cases, not us. In fact our lives
become even more miserable."
During the meeting, Indian leaders from the three countries said they
found the problems they faced were similar.
In Brazil, Indian land rights are enshrined in the constitution but
have been weakened by a decree allowing non-Indians to challenge
Indian lands, according to rights groups. Most Indian lands must still
be demarcated.
In Guyana, Indians hold title to their land but have no rights to its
mineral wealth, allowing the government to auction off mining
concessions.
Activists in Boa Vista said Venezuela was a century behind in
recognizing Indian rights. Its laws seek to assimilate indigenous
people and any attempt to give them special status is seen as a threat
to the nation's territorial integrity.
"Though each county has a different story to tell, the same suffering
is taking place in Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana," said Geronimo
Pereira da Silva of the Indigenous Council of Roraima.
The summit in Boa Vista helped forge a common stance which Indian
leaders hoped would help in pressuring governments.
They produced a long list of demands in which they insisted on not
only being consulted about infrastructure projects and mining and
logging concessions but to be given the right of veto.
In particular, they insisted the social and environmental impact were
fully studied before projects were implemented.
##########
ITEM #2
Title: Yanomami Indians Appeal for Help Against Invaders
Source: Reuters
Status: Copyright 1997, contact source for reprint permissions
Date: 8/31/97
Byline: Michael ChristieBy Michael Christie
BOA VISTA, Brazil (Reuter) - The Yanomami Indian nation on Friday
appealed to the governments of Brazil and Venezuela to help expel
thousands of wildcat gold miners and clandestine logging firms from
their Amazonian reserve.
Speaking at the first "international summit" of Indian tribes from
Brazil, Venezuela and Guyana taking place in the Brazilian frontier
town of Boa Vista, Yanomami leaders said their lands and lives were
being destroyed.
"Our lands have been invaded by thousands of garimpeiros. At least
3,000 are illegally extracting gold on our lands," said Davi Kaponawa
Yanomami, from the Brazilian side of the tribe's reserve, which was
demarcated as Indian land in 1992.
"They bring many diseases and death," Kaponawa said, reading from a
manifesto Brazilian and Venezuelan Yanomami leaders aimed at Brasilia
and Caracas.
Garimpeiros, the Portuguese word describing freelance gold and diamond
miners, has also passed into common usage on the Spanish-speaking side
of the border as wildcatters spill into the Yanomami territory in
search of fortunes.
"There were 3,000 garimpeiros in May and then Funai (Brazil's National
Indian Foundation) ran out of money and couldn't count them anymore,"
said Claudia Andujar, whose photographs have made the 23,000-strong
Yanomami nation known around the world.
The Brazilian government for a year has been planning a major military
operation to clear the reserve of non-Indians. Although some $6
million has been authorized, the operation has floundered so far on
disagreements between the various arms of government involved.
Tense standoffs between bow and arrow-bearing Indians and armed
garimpeiros are frequent. In 1993, 16 Yanomami were massacred.
Jose Siripino Yanomami, from the Venezuelan reserve, said his
community was too far from the border to be affected but his village
was also concerned.
"These garimpeiros are causing harm to our people and we want the
govenments (of Brazil and Venezuela) to support the communities and
support the army which has to guard the border," he told the three-
nation Indian meeting in Boa Vista.
"If the garimpeiros are allowed in to cause damage, where would we
hunt? If they contaminate the river, and poison the fish, what water
will we drink?" he asked.
The meeting in the capital of Brazil's Amazon state of Roraima, was
called to discuss major international infrastructure projects, such as
roads and power lines, that threaten indigenous territories in the
three countries.
##########
ITEM #3
Title: Amazon Indians meet to protest rain forest destruction
Source: Associated Press
Status: Copyright 1997, contact source for reprint permissions
Date: 8/26/97
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) -- Nearly 100 indigenous leaders from Brazil,
Venezuela and Guyana will convene in Brazil's northeastern Roraima
state on Wednesday to protest development projects they claim are
threatening the rain forest -- and their own livelihoods.
Topping the discussion agenda for the four-day meeting are large-scale
logging projects, gold mining and super-highways that cut through
pristine tropical rain forest.
"The summit is an opportunity for indigenous organizations in the
region to advance joint proposals for defense of their territories and
for economic alternatives for their communities," said Atossa Soltani,
a spokeswoman for Amazon Watch, the non-governmental organization
coordinating the meeting.
Among projects listed for review are: the BR-174 superhighway that
cuts through the northern Amazon region in Brazil; the 350-kilometer
(220-mile) Georgetown-Brazil jungle road link; and Venezuela's mammoth
Guri hydroelectric plant, with the potential to supply power to
neighboring countries such as Guyana.
Indians in the affected countries claim the projects pose a threat to
the tropical jungle, where most of them live.
During a larger summit in May, indigenous leaders from nine Amazon
Basin countries warned such projects had already caused severe
environmental damage to the region, including polluting prime fishing
areas and devastating hunting grounds.
Guyana, a former British colony on South America's northeast shoulder,
is embroiled in land disputes with its 35,000 Amazon Indians over
efforts to open up more forest for commercial purposes. The country,
which has one of the world's largest
expanses of virgin rain forest, is increasingly being eyed by foreign
firms as a potential source of timber.
Guyana is also home to one of the South America's largest gold mines,
which provides a fourth of the country's gross domestic product. The
mine triggered fears among environmental groups after its holding dam
broke in July 1995, flooding a major river with cyanide-tainted water.
Soltani said Indian groups need the summit to spur awareness of the
effects of such projects on the world's dwindling rain forests.
Among those expected to address the summit are Ageu Flotencio da
Cunha, Brazil's attorney general, officials from the Washington-based
World Resources Institute, and the president of Venezuela's power
company.
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Networked by Ecological Enterprises, grbarry at students.wisc.edu
James Albert
Department of Anatomy
Nippon Medical School
Tokyo, Japan