April 14, 2005
Breaking News: Raposa Serra do Sol, with modifications
Demarcation of Raposa-Serra do Sol: Word from Brazil today is that the Minister of Justice has modified the demarcation of the Raposa-Serra do Sol indigenous reserve, home to Macuxi, Wapixana, and Ingarikó peoples in the state of Roraima. The bigger news, in a sense, is that the Brazilian Supreme Court has removed all pending injunctions from the case and President Lula has decided to sign it.
The demarcation was completed in 1999 and sat, unsigned, on the desk of then President Fernando Henrique Cardoso for four years. He then passed it on without a signature, to the new President, Workers Party hero Luíz Inácia "Lula" da Silva. Despite the hopes of many human rights and indigenist activists in Brazil, Lula continued to sit on it, playing for political support from Amazonian legislators for his major reform bills of greater interest to the industrialized South where the bulk of Brazil's population lives. The new version of the demarcation (originally the result of a Constitutionally mandated process to identify those lands that pertain to indigenous groups) excludes several parts of the original territory: the municipality of Uiramutã, illegally established by the state of Roraima in the midst of the political battle over the territory and now, apparently, to be grandfathered in, all the roads of the territory, and the controversial Monte Roraima National Park. More on the implications of this soon. Furthermore, rice farmers from the South, who -- unlike ranchers and other "good faith" parties who already had interests within the territory when the demarcation process began -- arrived in Roraima and started farms in lands destined for the reserve well after the process was underway, are to be allowed to stay for a year and then and receive the same indenmification as the "good faith" interests.
This is a miscarriage of justice, but at least the reserve was approved as a contiguous territory, more or less. It's an incredible victory for the Macuxi, who has fought peacefully but steadfastly for more than thirty years for this day.
Posted by johnn at April 14, 2005 08:36 PM
Comments
I made some changes to this entry today. Seems I had captured wrong the mood from Roraima. Normally, I would n't do this but would post a new entry, but I think probably almost no one saw the original version of this brand new blog.
Posted by: JohnN ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.anthroblogs.org/buriti/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 17, 2005 10:07 PM
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