Urgent Action: WAIPI and CTI Under Attack
9/1/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Headline: Urgent Action: WAIPI and CTI Under Attack
Source: Christine Halvorson
Amanaka'a Amazon Network
60 East 13th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 253 9502
Fax: (212) 253 9507
E-mail: christine@amanakaa.org
Web Page: www.amanakaa.org
Date: 9/1/97
URGENT ACTION:
WAIAPI AND CTI UNDER ATTACK September, 1997
Over the past several years, the Waiapi Indians have shown their
capacity and determination to remain in control of their land,
which was demarcated and ratified in response to their struggle.
The area, however, continues to be the target of interests which
in other parts of the Amazon have brought destruction and death
to so many indigenous groups. Congressman Antonio Feijao is
after gold from the Waiapi's land; New Tribes missionaries are
after Waiapi souls. Together, they are conducting a harmful
campaign against the Waiapi and the Indigenous Advocacy
Center-CTI, which has worked closely with the Waiapi since 1991.
Following, please find a summary of the situation, as well as
the fax numbers of people to write with you support.
THE PLAYERS
The Waiapi: The Waiapi live in the Amazon state of Amapa.
Through a strategy which combines cultural recuperation,
sustainable development, and health and education projects, they
monitor their land, keeping it largely free of mining, logging,
and other interests, who have wrought so much destruction
throughout the Amazon.
Indigenous Advocacy Center-CTI: CTI has worked with the Waiapi
since 1991, in response for their request for technical
assistance to regularize their land, and for economic, health,
and education projects. CTI is an NGO recognized in Brazil and
internationally for its work in partnership with indigenous
peoples.
Federal Indian Agency-FUNAI: FUNAI is the government organ
responsible for indigenous issues in Brazil. Sullivan Silvestre
is the new President, as of August 22. He has recently met with
Waiapi leaders and the CTI. The FUNAI office in the state
capital Macapa has so far acted consistently on the side of the
missionaries and local politicians, removing CTI from the area.
The Politicians: Congressman Antonio Feijao has led a campaign
against CTI since 1993. He falsely accuses CTI's Dominique
Gallois of "illegally increasing" the Waiapi's land, and kicking
out the New Tribes Mission from this and other areas.
Prosecutor Joao Bosco has been involved in the situation since
1995, but has not directly consulted with the Waiapi (except for
one group under the influence of New Tribes). Amapa State
Governor Joao Capiberibe, on the other hand, has spoken out
about the situation, defending the Waiapi.
New Tribes Mission: The New Tribes Mission, a fundamentalist
evangelical group, was removed from the Waiapi area in 1995.
They continue involved in the campaign against the CTI, however,
manipulating the one Waiapi village which has sided with them.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
Since June, CTI staff, including Dominique Gallois, an
anthropologist who has studied with the Waiapi since 1978, and
since 1991 coordinated the CTI's work with the Waiapi, have had
judicial actions taken against them. In August, a federal
prosecutor Joao Bosco started an action preventing an
environmental recuperation from project being implemented, and
removing all CTI staff from the area. On August 15, the Acting
President of Funai signed a document provisionally suspending
all CTI activities in the Waiapi area. On August 28,
Kasiripina, President of the Waiapi Council of Villages-APINA,
meets the new President of Funai, Sullivan Silvestre, asking him
to intervene, and guarantee that CTI's work in the area
continue. Silvestre warns Kasiripina that "CTI just wants to
trick you and steal your gold". (Sulivan also recently met with
CTI's Dominique Gallois).
Despite its patriarchic attitude and lack of assistance,
politicians like Congressman Feijao and the New Tribes Mission
are backing the local Funai office in its efforts to block the
Waiapi's search for autonomy. The Waiapi, on the other hand,
have been cited by national and international agencies for their
formulation of socially and environmentally sustainable economic
alternatives. The current campaign against the CTI, their
partner in these projects - and in the end, against the Waiapi
themselves - is having damaging effects.
The Waiapi are concerned with the long interruption of their
projects, which are so essential to their survival and to their
strategy of territorial control. They have repeatedly requested
that CTI staff be allowed back to the area. Funai, however, has
ignored their appeals. All of the Waiapi villages are
mobilized, with leaders and youth going to and from Macapa,
neglecting their plots in their struggle to maintain the
projects they fought for and gained. The Waiapi are filing an
injunction against Funai.
YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED
As those of you who have come to Amazon Week and met Waiapi
leaders know, the Waiapi present a great example for the Amazon.
They have largely freed their land from invasion, recuperating
areas damaged by goldmining. They were intensely involved in
the demarcation of their land, setting a precedent for other
indigenous areas through Brazil. The projects - for health,
education, and economic alternatives - that have now been
blocked are excellent. With so many other indigenous nations in
Brazil facing large scale invasions, evictions, and bureaucratic
determination not to demarcate their land, the Waiapi present a
ray of hope. And that is why we must fight with them, against
the dangerous campaign being leveled against the CTI, against
the Waiapi, and ultimately, against indigenous rights and
autonomy.
Amanaka'a has known CTI since 1993, and has nothing but respect
for their work. We therefore join CTI in asking all NGOs
involved in the Amazon, and all individuals who support the
peoples of the forest, to fax the people listed below:
Sr. Sullivan Silvestre
Presidente da FUNAI
Fax: 011 55 61 226 8782
Dra. Marcia Lima de Carvalho
Sub-Procuradora Geral da Republica
Coordenadora da Sexta Camara da PGR
Fax: 011 55 61 313 5518
Governor Joao Alberto Capiberibe
Palacio do Governo
Fax: 011 55 96 223 5944
The information in this urgent action was translated and
summarized from a CTI document dated August 31. CTI is starting
a legal defense fund, and needs your assistance. For more
information, and to learn how you can help, please contact:
Christine Halvorson
Amanaka'a Amazon Network
60 East 13th Street
New York, NY 10003
Tel: (212) 253 9502
Fax: (212) 253 9507
E-mail: christine@amanakaa.org
Web Page: www.amanakaa.org
Dominique Gallois
Centro de Trabalho Indigenista-CTI
Tel/Fax: 011 55 11 813 0747