IT IS obvious that for the Brazilian government, people's rights do not matter.
Why else would they - in spite of vociferous local protests and campaigns by
several agencies in favour of the indigenous Indians - go ahead and bring
about the change to the controversial
Decree 22/91, which could very well
serve to spell doom for the local tribal
populace (Down to Earth, Vol 4, No 14)?
While the move, announced on
January 8, could help further the interests of the mining lobby, it has received
widespread criticism from the Catholic
Indian Missionary Council (CIMI), the
Brazilian Church agency for indigenous
affairs. It says that the action was a
direct attack on the constitutional
rights of the people and also a violent
act of disregard for protests by indigenous peoples. The change includes the
introduction of the right of challenge to
the declaration of an indigenous
reserve, which benefits the invaders of
these areas and also provides for the
review of the boundaries of some
areas. The list of 17 areas under the
protected area status does not include
those areas which are an object of
political pressure like the Raposa / Serra
do Sol in Roraima.
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