In the Brazilian state of Ceará, (on the North East Atlantic coast of the country, the eight largest in the country, whose capital is Fortaleza) indigenous peoples were silenced for centuries; first by genocide and slavery, later by a prohibition against speaking their original language and a prohibition against official marriage with anyone except white or freed black people. This reached the point that, in 1863, an official document was published, under pressure from the economic interests of the dominant elite and with symbolic force of law, which established that “there were no more Indians in the state”. However, in fact there are 14 indigenous peoples in 20 localities in Ceará, part of the 305 peoples that inhabit Brazil.
From the 1990s, the Anacé indigenous people began to suffer from a new
series of attacks with the installation of the Industrial Complex and Port of
Pecém. This is 50 km from Fortaleza and is the closest Brazilian port to both Europe
and USA, with transit times as short as six days to New York and seven days to
Portugal and Spain. Just ten years old, it is already the main Brazilian port
for the transportation of fruit, cement and shoes. It is also one of the main
ports for the movement of steel, iron and cotton.
This complex has two thermoelectric plants in operation (one coal, with
two units, respectively controlled by EDP and Eneva, a subsidiary of the
British multinational EOn and a gas plant belonging to Enel - an Italian
multinational.) and a steel mill. Together, they are authorized to use 2529
litres of water per second, enough to supply more than one million people.
Their consumption worsened the situation of the water reservoirs of Ceará,
already harmed by 5 years of unprecedented drought and high rates of
evaporation, probably as a result of climate change.
In 2015, before the start of the steelworks, the thermoelectric plants
alone emitted 7.25 Megatons of CO2 (22.7% of the total emissions of the state
in CO2-equivalent) as well as toxic gases and particulate material. This also
severely impacts on the health of local communities (indigenous and
non-indigenous). As if that were not enough, part of the Anacé people was
forcibly removed from its territory, which remains unmarked, to a
"reserve", to pave the way for the installation of an oil refinery,
which is planned to happen in the coming years through Chinese investment.
Due to the delay in demarcating their lands, the Anacé communities
started actions in which they mark out their own lands, which they call
"retomadas". One of them (Japuara) is consolidated but covers only a
small part of the territory. The new retomada attempts have met a violent
response from squatters and by the state police apparatus.
In addition, due to the falling level of the reservoirs, the state
government has begun to use groundwater in the region, which, according to
environmental impact studies, will have a serious impact on the quantity and
quality of the local water, drying up small shallow wells that serve families
and small communities, and allowing saline intrusion. The Anacés are once again
at the forefront of resistance against this project, having started court
action and set up camp to protect their water. The camp was violently repressed
and the lawsuits are still in dispute, although the government is still
carrying out the work. We ask for solidarity with this brave group of fighters.
Appeal
We, social-environmental movements, indigenous organizations,
environmentalists, human rights defenders and supporters of the indigenous
cause, give our full and unconditional support to the Anacé Indigenous People
of the communities of Japuara and Cauípe and their traditional leaders. We
condemn the acts of violence and the violations committed by squatters,
authorities and public agents.
A month after the police twice repossesed their land by force, Anacé
leaders, especially from Japoara and Cauípe, in the municipality of Caucaia, in
the state of Ceará, still face frequent intimidation. There are reports of
people passing on motorcycles, wearing helmets to hide their faces, with a
message that the Anacés interpret as a threat. They fear for their lives.
The Anacé people have lived in this region from at least the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries. Expelled from their traditional territory, they have
little basis to maintain their practices and customs. The areas in which they
have been forced to live have not yet been given official status, as the
federal constitution sets out, leading to a systematic advance of squatters on
the small patch of land for which this people fights, at all costs, to
guarantee current and future generations.
Without effective action by public authorities, especially the
institutions responsible for guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples,
such as the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Public
Prosecutor's Office (MPF), besides the Federal Government, the Anacé People
began and intensified in the last five years, a process known as “retomadas”,
in which they act to occupy their own land - actions carried out by
indigenous peoples in several states of Brazil, mainly in the Northeast and
Center-West regions.
One such retomadas in January resulted in police aggression and the
repossession of the land by the state of Ceará, without any of the legal
procedures that should be used in cases that directly affect indigenous
peoples, such as the presence of FUNAI, the Brazilian Government Agency for Law
Enforcement and the Federal Police.
In addition to the struggle for land rights, the Anacé also fight for
their right to water. At the end of 2017, leaders of the Anacé indigenous
people filed a popular action, in the State Court of Caucaia, against illegal
water withdrawal from Lagamar do Cauípe, an Environmental Protection Area. In
the first moment, they obtained a court decision favorable to indigenous and
traditional communities. However, the state government were later granted
permission to use the waters of Cauípe .
History of violent repossessions
On January 19, 2018, the first repossession took place, in a “retomada”
area known as Lagoa do Barro, in the municipality of Caucaia, which is in the
hands of squatters. The Anacé reported aggression suffered during the violent
eviction, with some leaders threatened with arrest.
A few days later, on January 24, 2018, due to the fight against the
withdrawal of water from Lagamar do Cauípe to supply the companies of the
Industrial Complex and Port of Pecém, affecting the lives of 27 communities,
the police carried out a further attack to repossess land. Rubber bullets and
pepper spray were used, the tents where the leadership had sheltered for more
than one month, to resist the irresponsible use of water to favor large
capital, were overturned.
After the repossession, the Anacés, especially the community of Japoara,
suffered threats, intimidation and criminalization because of their struggle
for land, water and the full right to live.
We reiterate our support; we demand the investigation of the threats; we
demand that the violence against Anacé People of the communities of Japoara and
Cauípe ceases.
For the immediate Demarcation of the Anacé Indigenous Land!
Land demarcated, life guaranteed!
Land demarcated, life guaranteed!
[Please send your support to direitosindigenasce@gmail.com]
Read the note in
Portuguese
Publicação enviada por apoiadores dos povos indígenas no mundo, reunidos na Bélgica.
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| Foto: Arquivo / Observatório Socioambiental |
