MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazilian Indians fight back

Indians demanding greater compensation from mining operations in the Amazon region have invaded a company town owned by the world's largest iron ore miner, the company said yesterday.

Brazil's CVRD said about 150 Indians from the Xikrin tribe occupied the town of Carajas in an apparent attempt ??to pressure the company to increase financial contributions to the indigenous community.''

In a statement, the company characterized the occupation late on Tuesday night of Carajas as violent but did not say if there were any injuries or fatalities. Carajas, which was built by CVRD, is in the largely undeveloped state of Para, about 2,000 kilometres north of Sao Paulo.

CVRD, or Companhia Vale do Rio Doce SA, did not say whether production had been affected at the Carajas complex, which produces about 70 million metric tons of iron ore yearly and is being expanded.

The Xikrins, who live in two remote villages, could not immediately be reached for contact. Brazil's Indian Missionary Council, a Roman Catholic Church-backed group that helps many tribes, said it was trying to learn details about the occupation but had no immediate comment.

The invasion came eight months after Indian tribes blocked a railroad from Carajas in protests over health care, reducing CVRD's first-quarter iron ore shipments by one million metric tons.

CVRD said it now contributes about US$4.3 million annually to the Xikrins under a social-development agreement signed in June.

The company said it would use legal methods to protect its workers and property. It called the invasion illegal and a form of extortion, and said it could result in the cancellation of the social-development deal.