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On July 15, 1992, the Secretary General of the Presidency of the Republic, Ambassador Marcos Coimbra, issued "Aviso no. 745," a governmental memorandum. The memo was ordered by Brazil's President Fernando Collor de Mello, and informs the Minister of Justice that, henceforth, the demarcation of Indian lands and the establishment of new areas for environmental protection (wilderness and other conservation areas) will be formulated by the chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces, the National Department of Mineral Production, the National Electrical Power Company, and the Brazilian Agricultural Research Company.
Facing one of the worst political crises in its history, resulting from a series of accusations which led to the ongoing impeachment of President Collor de Mello, Brazil is beginning to see substantial changes in the Government's attitude regarding its indigenous policy. These changes may have serious implications for the protection of Indian rights, culminating in a major step backwards concerning every effort made up to the present on this issue.
The "Coimbra Memorandum" gravely violates the Brazilian Constitution, which recognizes Indians' aboriginal rights to the lands they traditionally occupy. The Constitution precisely acknowledges the concept of indigenous lands, and obligates the Federal Government to demarcate them all by October 1993. The constitutional recognition of Indian rights to land has four different categories which must be considered together and in accordance with the Indians' uses, customs and traditions. The categories are: a) lands inhabited by Indians on a permanent basis; b) lands used for productive activities; c) lands essential for the preservation of their environmental resources; and d) lands necessary for Indians' physical and cultural reproduction. The concept of land rights lays the basis for delimiting the territories of every indigenous people or community in the country. That process requires the expertise of anthropologists and other selected technicians who are qualified to identify each one of the components regarding any Indian community.
Because this constitutional provision lacked procedural mechanisms, on February 22, 1991, almost a year after he took power, President Collor issued "Decree 22," which established the administrative procedures for the demarcation of Indian lands. According to that decree, FUNAINational Foundation of the Indian (governmental agency for Indian Affairs)is supposed to initiate the process by appointing a Technical Group which would conduct ethnohistorical, sociological, and cartographic studies, as well as a territorial survey, to determine the limits of the land traditionally occupied by a given Indian community. The Technical Group must present a detailed report to the President of FUNAI, who then has to approve it, before publishing all this information in the federal register.
Then, according to the decree, FUNAI is to send the complete file on the given case to the Minister of Justice, who will, if he agrees with it, declare the limits of the Indian land, determining its physical demarcation. The Minister of Justice's act, named a "Portaria," is the primary formal document of the Brazilian government's recognition of indigenous character of any specific land. Physical demarcation of the land follows such recognition. FUNAI is supposed to coordinate this part of the process, possibly by hiring a private surveyor to do the job. When the physical demarcation is finished, the entire process must be submitted to the President of the Republic for ratification. The final step is the registration of the Indian land before the competent registry.
Neither the Constitution nor Decree 22/91 gives any grounds for the changes introduced by the Coimbra Memorandum. The memo was an administrative act devoid of any legal status, meant to undermine indigenous rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Because it was not subject to even minimal public scrutiny which would have been permitted if it had been published in the federal register, the memo also violated the public's right to know of and participate in Government decisions.
The new order was issued at the same time that evidence appeared of a military attempt to reestablish the so-called "Calha Norte Project" - a secret plan developed during Brazil's former administration by the now extinct National Security Council. Calha Norte, the watershed north of the Solimoes and Amazon Rivers, refers to a region on the Brazilian border with Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. The Project encompassed 1.3 million square kilometers, 14 percent of Brazil's territory, and its main goals were to occupy the area, open it to "rational" economic development, and introduce to it the benefits and infrastructure of the national society. It was within the scope of the Calha Norte Project that, for instance, the Yanomami territory was invaded by thousands of gold miners, 14 Ticuna Indians were massacred by lumbermen, and anthropologists, missionaries and documentary filmmakers were expelled from and/or forbidden to enter indigenous areas for years.
The Coimbra Memorandum is intended to bring back the issue of national security, allowing the military once more to intervene in the process of recognition of indigenous lands, and opening Indian lands to powerful economic interests, such as those of mining companies and the hydroelectric sector, which have long been accustomed to depriving Indians of their land rights. It is a clear sign that, in spite of the Constitution or any other legal standards, the Indians will be a major target for those who intend to benefit from Brazil's current political chaos.
For more information contact:
Núcleao de Direitos Indígenas
SCS, Q. 96, BL. A,
Ed. José Sevaero, sala 303
Cep 70300 Brasilia DF, BRAZIL
Fourth World Bulletin • October 1992
Copyright © 1996 by the Fourth World Center
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