MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil: Violent land disputes between tribes and ranchers on the rise
Violent disputes over indigenous land are on the rise in Brazil, sparking heightened militancy by natives angered by broken promises of compensation and slower government registrations. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rules“just one percent of the 191-million-strong population controls almost half the cultivated land”
Jul 31st, 2012 - 03:38 am - Link - Report abuse 0Brazil needs an agrarian reform to redistribute lands and promote development of local communities.
Dilma must FIGHT and BEAT the *illegal* excesses of the cattle ranchers, farmers, miners and loggers.
Jul 31st, 2012 - 12:01 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The federal and state governments MUST fulfil their obligations to recompense sensibly and in a timely fashion, however excessive the claims .... and these are usually extremely opportunistic.
The federal and state governments MUST catch and put on trial the killers, even though the real villains are their bosses (frequently the politicians themselves, or their family members).
The police are totally under-resourced and politically unprotected, particularly in Amazonia (personal knowledge).
The Belo Monte MUST be brought on stream as soon as possible.
Brasil's economic and industrial 'window of opportunity' will not be open forever.
South Amerindians to colonialist South Americans.
Jul 31st, 2012 - 05:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0“Get orf my land!”
#1-1% and the commodities markets
Jul 31st, 2012 - 06:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#2-A refreshing post and as you say,the bosses are the real perpertrators .But I suppose the unfair distribution of wealth would make hitmen/security forces more amenable to commiting the crimes
#3-an anti-climax that has not contributed to the thread unfortunately.
I wonder what would happen if the indigenous attacked the owners.Theyd be savages again,yes.
The indigenous peoples of America lost their lands and have survived without it for generations, sometimes without it, sometimes being pushed away to hard to live lands.
Jul 31st, 2012 - 06:38 pm - Link - Report abuse 0They deserve land redistribuition reforms to allow them and their children to be able to work their own land without being subject to exploitation again and again.
Jose,
Jul 31st, 2012 - 07:49 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Redistributing land along ethnic lines creates as many injustices as it seeks to amend.
It is very difficult to say who is indigenous and who is not. Even the most remote tribes have long since been penetrated by outsides, albeit to a small degree. Over the centuries explorers, loggers, hunters, escaped slaves, etc have contributed to the indigenous gene pool. Indigenous people have also migrated to the towns.
Here in Chile the Mapuche who fight for land reform are no more or less Mapuche than the majority of Chileans. Because of political sensitivities to fabricated ethnicities much land has been handed over to Mapuche communities. Analysis over the years shows that land that has been returned is either logged or lies abandoned. This causes great resentment amongst other poor sectors of society who don’t get this special treatment.
I am all in favour of redressing the balance and reducing poverty but it must be done along social/economic lines and not very blurred ethnic ones. This is the 21st century, we are republics and the clock cannot be turned back.
Remember when Sting purchased a big chunk of Amazon and then gave it to native tribe who then sold it and moved to the city? It kind of sums up the issue: people just want to get out of poverty.
Appreciated, Condorito.
Jul 31st, 2012 - 08:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0I have plotted the distribution and creation of the quilombos in Bahia and beyond. So many were declared as soon as land and other 'rights' were accorded to ex-slave colonies. Few stand up to the scrutiny of historic habitation.
Equally, indigenous land rights have been claimed for (eg) the Government front lawn in Brasilia, the Brasilian capital. I have become used to 'normal' individuals known to me donning the feathers when the TV cameras arrive.
Land appropriation is not just an original 'colonial' thing.
Opportunistic land grabs are a feature of today's Brasil (and probably much of the world!) and not just by the 'coronels', etc.
The Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra, MST, is equally opportunistic but with less interest in land per se - sadly, more a political movement concerned with winning assets that can be cashed to move to the cities. Wikileaks Brasil has provided a superb expose.
6,
Jul 31st, 2012 - 09:14 pm - Link - Report abuse 0During colonial times, most lands were owned either by european descendants or by the church. This was the case in Mexico and one reason why we had a revolution in 1910 when 1 or 2% of the population, the “terratenientes” owned more than 80% of arable land.
But you make a very good point. Land cannot be redistribute on ethnical grounds in Brazil, as the country´s very diverse.
The land reforms in Mexico were never addressed in terms of ethnicity but rather in terms of millions of mexicans who had been liberated from serfdom but were still unable to self support themselves because they had no land. Zapata fought a war and millions of mexicans received land, under conditions to use it for farming and with certain legal securities so they could not sell the land.
Some communities were successful, many were not and ended up abandoning their fields, but millions of mexicans benefited by owning land and being able to produce their own crops.
Land distribution is the key.This has been done in many places.It is not a problem if some time in the future the land is passed on,legislation can be used to prevent its concentration.Legislation can also be used to prevent it being passed on if it is not the most suitable action.But concentration and a legal ability to own vast tracts of land is a far greater issue.
Jul 31st, 2012 - 09:31 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Strange how single events are quoted as reasons for not distributing land,when legislation and a desire to see distribution succeed are able to make it a reality
#1,5,8 I agree with you. First time for everything I suppose =)
Aug 01st, 2012 - 07:55 pm - Link - Report abuse 0#2 Good post. That Dilma stood up to the landlord's coup in Paraguy (despite the interests of the rich Braziguayans) may be a hopeful sign
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