Boletim April 05 Ingles

Page 1

NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR REGULARIZATION OF QUILOMBO LAND

QUILOMBOL@ www.cohre.org/quilombos

Editorial

The ongoing conflicts on the rights to land and housing between the quilombo communities and the Space Launch Center at Alcântara, State of Maranhão, are now priority themes in the national campaign “A Matter of Social Justice: Regularizing Land Ownership in the Quilombo Territories”.In this edition the electronic bulletin Quilombol@ reviews a number of suggestions presented by those involved in the search for a solution to the conflicts in the region. Since the tragic forced displacement of the 32 quilombo communities originally resident at the site, the matter has been successfully inserted in the list of active items of the Federal Government’s public agenda. Furthermore, there has been an evident increase in the activities from protest organizations and in the involvement of the communities themselves in the public debate. However, the continuing danger of further displacements maintains the effected populations constantly concerned regarding the future of their communities. The agreements for commercial utilization of the space facility signed by the Federal Government with countries such as Ukraine and Russia, keep the communities in a state of constant alert and justify the fear that to fulfill these engagements the Space Center will take over more community land by forcibly displacing the communities. In the present issue we present a critical debate of the Federal Government´s proposals for the sustainable development of the Alcântara region and for the solution of the land ownership conflicts. It is COHRE´s opinion that any definitive solution to this problem must guarantee a complete abandonment of the present policy of displacing quilombo communities from their traditional lands and the implementation of a process of collectively titling quilombo territories, actions that may result in a large impact in the process of land ownership regularization, which is still unresolved due to land conflicts in other regions in Brazil.

Ethnic territory is a guarantee of rights

MABE Representatives at the GEI workshop in Alcântara

The measures recently announced by the Federal Government improve somewhat the prospects of the communities affected by the expansion plans of the Space Launch Center (CLA) in Alcântara, State of Maranhão, but the local communities still demand an end to forced displacements and to the restrictions of access to land. The official plan calls for over thirty programs regarding health, human rights, income generation, land ownership regularization, housing, social action, popular education and agriculture to be executed in 2005 and 2006. The planned investment totals 13 million reais (about US$ 5.2 million) and has been officially included as a line item in the Federal General Budget. The proposals were presented and discussed with some 200 community representatives, NGO´s, and Government entities, during a workshop promoted by the GEI (Grupo Executivo Interministerial – Inter-Ministerial Executive Group) in Alcântara on 11and 12 March 2005. The plans were generally well received by the local government and by the communities who are at present experiencing precarious situations and extreme poverty. However, MABE (Movimento dos Atingidos pela Base – Action Movement of People effected by the Space Center) and ACONERUQ (Associação das ComunidadesNegras Rurais Quilombolas de Alcântara - The Association of Rural Afro-Brazilian Quilombo communities in Alcântara) consider that the main problem these communities face remains unsolved – that is, the lack of land and the forced displacements.

The communities want a clear definition from the federal government about how the expansion of the Space Facility is to be achieved. The GEI position was conveyed to the communities by the Government Office of Civic Affairs, but is expressed in doubtful terms -new displacements will not be carried out, and if they do become necessary in the future they will not be carried out in the same manner as it was done as in the past. No official federal government decision on the CLA expansion plans and/ or the need for new displacements has been made public. Neither the federal AEB (Agência Espacial Brasileira – Brazilian Space Agency) informed anything on whether the cooperation or technological safeguard agreements signed with the Ukraine and Russia, imply in the expansion of the CLA beyond its present boundaries. The local leaders insist that a final solution to land ownership conflicts presupposes an end to the displacements of the communities, the recognition and the issue of land titles to the ethnic territory of Alcântara. The residents also want the implementation of zoning plans in the municipality, the elaboration and approval of the legally-required Environmental Impact Study (EIA/RIMA), the construction of an adequate municipal infrastructure even in those areas where future displacements may occur, as well as the regular facilities of basic education, school transport and health services. The GEI promised to issue an official report on the workshop debates and the decisions reached during the seminar - the communities lookforward with interest to receiving copies.


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Boletim April 05 Ingles by The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) - Issuu