Brazil's Landless Movement Wins Support in Cities SAo PAULO, OCTOBER 18, 1996 The age-old struggle for land reform in Brazil has gained prominent nation- al exposure this year, largely due to the increased number of spon- taneous land takeovers by land- less peasants. As the plight of the landless reaches state capi- tals via newspapers, the Internet, and even a highly-acclaimed TV soap opera, the movement of the landless has forged alliances with inner-city laborers and the unemployed, gaining crucial urban support for its rural bat- tles. Since the late 1970s, Sem Terra, a mass movement of land- less workers, has emerged in Brazil's countryside, supported by progressive Catholic clergy, labor unionists, university- trained agronomists, and other sympathizers. Founded in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil's south- ernmost state, the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST) now occupies tracts of land in 22 of Brazil's 26 states. Most recently, on September 30, 700 peasants took over a large ranch in the interior of Sio Paulo state. On October 4, 700 more families invaded four ranches in the southern state of Parana. In all, more than 140,000 families have gained land of their own through mass occupations of vacant farmlands. Their settlements range from hastily built shelters draped in black plastic sheeting to solidly built homes with thriv- ing agribusiness enterprises. As landless peasants occupy lands throughout Brazil, the media in Sdo Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Recife and other major cities-all groaning with millions of rural migrants-- report almost daily on Sem Terra, sustaining their national expo- sure. Meanwhile, in the cities, militants from the interior have also raised a stir by blocking city roads and occupying parks and public buildings. In August, for example, 300 landless settlers camped in front of the Congress- ional Palace in Brasilia. And in Sdo Paulo, members of the bank workers' union hold monthly vig- ils to recall that the recent killings of landless workers in their strug- gle to gain land continue to be ignored. No one has been pun- ished for these crimes. Sem Terra has taken steps to polish its public image. Many of its leaders now deal more direct- ly with the press, and in July, the movement held its second annual "Agrarian Reform Olympics," uniting 1,500 athletes from 23 settlements. Sem Terra has even become a household word on the nation's leading prime-time soap opera, The King of Cattle, a high- ly romanticized story on the Globo Network in which a wealthy cattle baron romances a peasant woman, and an earnest senator becomes a strong sup- porter of land reform. The movement and its sympa- thizers hope the new attention will pressure the President to acceler- ate his land reform program. Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former leftist sociology professor who was elected in 1994 with the support of one of Brazil's most right-wing parties, has pledged to resettle 280,000 families by 1998. But the landless believe he is acting too slowly and will reach only a fraction of that goal. Having waited for land for too long, they are now following their own timeline. As the Sem Terras seize more farms, they also reap increasing amounts of the nation's attention. -Dean Graber Zapatistas Send a Comandanta to Indigenous Congress MEXICO CITY, OCTOBER 11, 1996 t the closing session of the National Indigenous Congress (NCI), held in Mexico City this October 8-11, a tiny, visibly ill woman in a red huipil and a black hood-La Comandanta Ramona-conveyed the greetings of the Zapatista Amy of National Liberation (EZLN) to the 2,000 assembled delegates and observers. Speak- ing slowly in her native Tzotzil, Ramona, who is suffering from terminal kidney cancer and whose presence was confirmed only by a last-minute agreement between the government and the EZLN, told the Congress that Mexico was on notice that it could never again ignore its indigenous citizens. Her appear- ance provided a fitting emotional finale to the Congress. Six hundred and eighty dele- gates representing 35 indigenous groups attended the Congress. Mestizos participated as well- as advisors, promoters of the political arm of the EZLN, and as members of peasant and polit- ical groups. More than a hundred volunteers lent technical, logisti- cal and administrative support, and organized security cordons outside the conference hall. The Congress was organized around four workshops whose central themes were: constitu- tional rights and indigenous peo- ples; unity of the indigenous movement; indigenous peoples and the nation; the present situa- tion of the indigenous peoples. Using the proposals that emerged from the workshops as guideposts, and referring back to the accords hammered out at the "culture and indigenous rights" dialogue held between the gov- Vol XXX, No 3 Nov/DEc 1996 1NEWSBRIEFS ernment and the EZLN in Chiapas earlier in the year, the delegates prepared a document calling for indigenous autonomy understood not as separatism, but as a recognition of the plural- ity and diversity of Mexicans. They designated a temporary coordinating commission to facilitate the mechanisms of bringing their proposals for con- stitutional reform to the Mexican national Congress. Delegates reiterated their com- mitment to develop a program of struggle, unity and resistance for a more just, humane and democ- ratic society. They issued a fra- ternal call to "civil society" to engage in a "Great National Dialogue" to move toward a new constitution which would allow all men and women to participate in the construction of a new social pact based on t tion of plurality, the cultures and the richni differences. As Ramona conc brief address, her list dered their respons again a Mexico without again an Indian agains er; never again a peo hope." Woman on Targe but Man Wins MI BUENOS AIRES, OCTOBER 23 T wo months after football referee w ed from officiating i matches, Argentine up in arms over anoti discrimination in spor est uproar is over a petitor in a rifle-shoot he recogni- diversity of ess of those being declared the winner even though he received a lower score than the woman who was award- ed second place. luded her "I was denied the title because I eners thun- am a woman," said Elvira Bella. e: "Never "This was the third time I have ut us; never participated in a national champi- st his broth- onship and no one had ever told ple without me I could not compete. This year, heartily encouraged by my -Irene Ortiz instructor, I won, but didn't receive the title." The arguments used to support edal the decision appeared as puerile , 1996 as those raised when Florencia a female Romano, the football referee who as prevent- had one of the best grade aver- n top-level ages in her class, was banned vomen are from the first division on grounds her case of of her gender. In that episode, ts. The lat- officials said they could not find male com- adequate clothing for her. Bella's club mates had begun pre- maturely celebrating her victory, only to overhear one judge ask another: "What shall we do with the lady?" The reply: "We could give her the title of 'Honorary Champion as the best qualifying woman."' Bella was given what was in her words "a consolation prize." Osvaldo Larrea, who had scored three points less, became official champion. The organizers claimed she had only been allowed to regis- ter in the competition "by mistake." "The regulations say at least three women have to register for there to be a female category," said Shooting Federation member Juan Carlos Sampayo. But Bella took her case to the Chamber of Deputies' human rights committee, which issued a declaration calling on Federation leaders to explain their action and expressing "deep concern over the case of discrimi- nation in the 54th National Shooting Championship." To date, no response has been received from either the federation or its director, Gen. Ernesto Alais. The case of the female referee had also gone to the Congress. Leaders of the Argentine Football Association eventually accepted the decision that restriction based on unavailability of proper clothes was not a strong enough argument. They asked Romano to have her qualifications approved by com- pleting one more course, after which they would allow her to ref- eree first-division matches. -- InterPress Service U.S. Arms Sales Continue as Christopher Calls Policy Shift Into Question WASHINGTON, D.C., OCTOBER, 1996 Under a plan proposed by the defense industry last year, 18 year-old government restrictions on the sale of F-16 fighter jets and attack helicopters to South American countries would be great- ly reduced. Restrictions were imposed by the Carter administra- tion in 1978, citing widespread human rights abuses in the region. Proponents of the new plan point to the growing number of democrati- cally elected governments and improving human rights records as justification for the policy shift. Critics claim the sale of offensive equipment would destabilize the region. During an appearance before the Senate Foreign Relations Commit- tee in August, however, Secretary of State Warren Christopher called the liberalization of arms sales into question, arguing that the United States should show "great restraint" in transferring advanced types of military equipment where they are not currently in use. "In many instances," he said, "there is no national security case...for having these weapons, except that their neighbor has gotten them." While the thrust and parry of this now-public debate continues, mil- lions of dollars in military equip- ment is being sent to South American nations. On September 13 the Pentagon disclosed that Colombia will purchase 12 Black- hawk helicopters, each equipped with two door-mounted machine guns, in a deal worth $169 million. The Clinton administration approv- ed the sale in order to help Colombia "improve its capability to fight the war on drugs." In addition, the White House announced on September 24 that the U.S. government would draw down weapons worth $112 million to assist the drug interdiction efforts of several Latin American nations. Colombia and Mexico will each receive Huey helicopters and obser- vation aircraft, and Venezuela and Peru are slated to receive observa- tion aircraft, river patrol boats and communications gear. Despite Secretary Christopher's statements, industry pressure on the administration to change current policy is likely to build in the com- ing months as the bidding for two large aircraft orders is expected to begin. Brazil, which has formulated a 15-year plan to acquire at least 70 new fighter jets, and Chile, which hopes to buy 24 attack planes in the coming years, have begun to request technical data from compa- nies hoping to win these plum deals. U.S. industry officials note that British, French and Russian compa- nies are expected to strongly pursue these sales opportunities. One industry representative recently gave an indication of the impor- tance given to these orders when he noted that "if we don't get these sales, we'll be blocked out of the market for 20 years." -Tom Cardamone Land Reform Compromise Deflates Bolivian Protest LA PAZ, OCTOBER 11, 1996 The Bolivian parliament approved a controversial agrar- ian reform law last month, after more than 20,000 indigenous and rural protesters had marched to La Paz demanding input into the legis- lation. With the law's passage, pro- testers began to file out of the city with a lingering aftertaste of com- promise, and a sensation that they were heading home without much to show for their efforts. To put an end to the conflict with peasant farmers, indigenous people and the business community, parlia- ment members discussed the pro- posed law throughout the night on Thursday, October 9 until they final- ly approved it at noon on Friday. Although the new law partly incorporates their main demands, many protesters felt let down after a tough month-long march, two weeks camped out in classrooms in La Paz, government indifference and harsh treatment at the hands of police. In late August, several indigenous organizations began a 550-mile march from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to the capital, La Paz, to protest pro- visions of the agrarian reform bill then under consideration. The con- flict arose when the government submitted to Congress the original version of the bill, rather than the one incorporating changes agreed to in talks between the government and campesino and indigenous groups. The changes that had originally been agreed upon dealt with the granting of land titles; the incorpora- tion of rural workers into the provi- sions of the General Labor Law; political participation; and the use of identification cards in the communi- ties. The groups had also demanded the creation of a development fund for their communities, in which indigenous communities and 46NACLA REPORT ON THE AMERICAS campesinos would participate in the administration and carrying out of economic and social-development projects. Indigenous and campesino lead- ers said the march was necessary because the government did not respect the earlier agreement to incorporate the changes in the law, making further dialogue pointless. "We don't know what the govern- ment wants to dialogue about," said Roman Loayza, executive sec- retary of the Confederacion Sindical Unica de Trabajadores Campesinos (CSUTCB). "We've been dialoging with them for more than eight months. We reached an agreement on the content of the law...and now they're trying to pass a law that ignores the agree- ments we made. So what are we going to discuss?" Among the groups participating in the "march for territory, land, political rights, and development" were the country's coca growers. According to Evo Morales, leader of the organized coca growers, in addition to their objections to the agrarian-reform law, coca growers are protesting continued human rights violations by anti-drug per- sonnel in the Chapare coca-growing region of Bolivia. "The government is trying to take away the coca growers' lands, because they consider planting coca a subversive act against the state," said Morales. "That's why we decided to march-to prevent more human rights violations, stop the forced eradication of coca fields, and stop our lands from being taken." But many marchers felt betrayed by the indigenous groups from the country's eastern Amazon region, who in early October split from the main current of protesters and signed an accord with the govern- ment. The indigenous groups from the Amazon jungle region emerged triumphant from the conflict because the government granted title deeds recognizing the collec- tive ownership of their land. "No one has won 100% of what they wanted. Everyone has com- promised, including the govern- ment. I think this way we have been able to build a consensus, although not unanimity, regarding the law," said Vice-President Victor Hugo Cardenas. "The whole country has gained, because the law will prevent future conflict over land. It will reduce unproduc- tive large landholdings and provide access to land for those who have only tiny plots or are landless," he added. But according to the coca pro- ducers' Morales, who trekked over 250 miles from the central Chapare region, the government was able to impose a law that clearly favors the private business sector and large landowners. "We are returning to our communities, but it is simply a recess. The roadblocks will be maintained," Morales warned. "The fight by the peasant commu- nities will continue, and we will resist the application of the law." -InterPress Service and NotiSur Sources Dean Graber is the founding editor of the on-line magazine REAL BRAZIL (http://lanic.utexas.edu/project/ppb/rb). Irene Ortiz is a NACLA correspondent based in Mexico. InterPress Service is an international news service based in Italy. Its dispatches can be read on-line in the Peacenet con- ferences: ips. esparol and ips. english. Tom Cardamone is director of the Conventional Arms Transfer Project for the Council For A Livable World Education Fund in Washington, D.C. NotiSur is available as a closed Peacenet conference: carnet.ladb. For subscription information: Latin American Database, Latin American Institute, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM; (800) 474-0888.
