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### Viewing cable 08BRASILIA707, BRAZILIAN GENERAL BREAKS RANKS ON INDIGENOUS

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Reference ID | Created | Released | Classification | Origin
--- | --- | --- | --- | ---
08BRASILIA707 | 2008-05-20 19:23 | 2011-07-11 00:00 | CONFIDENTIAL | Embassy Brasilia

`

    VZCZCXRO8976
    RR RUEHBW
    DE RUEHBR #0707/01 1411923
    ZNY CCCCC ZZH
    R 201923Z MAY 08
    FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
    TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1741
    INFO RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
    RUEHAC/AMEMBASSY ASUNCION 6815
    RUEHBO/AMEMBASSY BOGOTA 4580
    RUEHBU/AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES 5535
    RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 4100
    RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ 6229
    RUEHPE/AMEMBASSY LIMA 3804
    RUEHMN/AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO 7373
    RUEHSG/AMEMBASSY SANTIAGO 0351
    RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 8065
    RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 6181
    RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 2114
    RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0262

` `

    C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000707

    SIPDIS

    DEPARTMENT FOR DRL AND IO

    E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/21/2018
    TAGS: BR PHUM PREL PGOV
    SUBJECT: BRAZILIAN GENERAL BREAKS RANKS ON INDIGENOUS
    POLICY AMID PROTESTS IN RORAIMA REGION

    REF: IIR 6 809 0156 08

    BRASILIA 00000707  001.2 OF 003

    Classified By: Charge d'Affaires Mission Phillip Chicola for reasons
    1.4 b and d

    Summary
    -------
    ¶1. (C) Brazilian Army General Augusto Heleno, military
    commander of the Amazon region, spoke out on April 16 against
    the GOB's indigenous policy calling it "chaotic,"
    specifically in reference to a traditionally indigenous area
    in northern Roraima state planned to become a protected
    reserve.  This challenge came after Brazil's Supreme Court
    stopped federal action to forcibly remove rice farmers from
    the just demarcated indigenous territory.  Both the Supreme
    Court decision and the Army general's statements would seem
    to impede settling the final status of this enormous land
    area.  Further complicating the issue are Brazilian concerns,
    fueled by fears of rising prices because of the widely
    reported on "world food crisis," about the levels of its rice
    production and plans for "rationing" its harvest.  However,
    President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and Brazil's Indigenous
    Foundation (FUNAI) President Marcio Meiro say that the
    demarcation will go forward.  Heleno's security concerns
    appear overblown, and resolving the Raposa Serra do Sol
    dispute in favor of Brazil's indigenous would send a strong
    message to those who manipulate the demarcation process for
    their own ends.  Demarcation falls short, however, of what
    Brazil's indigenous need: assistance in developing the
    capacity to manage their land, develop it sustainably, and
    relate with the outside world by means of government-provided
    infrastructure.

    Supreme Court Interferes, Again
    -------------------------------
    ¶2. (SBU) Following an urgent appeal from Roraima's Governor
    Jose de Anchieta Filho to stop Federal Police from forcibly
    removing rice farmers from reservation lands, Brazil's
    Supreme Court ruled that the removals should stop because the
    final demarcation "could put at risk national integrity and
    sovereignty."  The governor called the Court's decision a
    victory for the people of Roraima in the wake of what reports
    from Roraima had described as protests akin to a civil war
    against forced removals of non-indigenous from the area.
    However, Justice Minister Tarso Genro later criticized the
    press coverage as unfairly slanted in favor of the rice
    farmers.  Although obstructionist, setting fires and blocking
    federal authorities passage to the reserves, the protesters
    numbered only about 150 people.

    ¶3. (SBU) The Supreme Court has made similar rulings in the
    past, generally on the side of land and agricultural
    development versus indigenous demarcation of land.  In 2005
    Federal Police forcibly removed 400 members of the
    Guarani-Kaiowa tribe from land in Mato Grosso do Sol state,
    notorious for indigenous killings, after the Supreme Court
    issued an injunction preventing the land from becoming fully
    demarcated.  These cases have raised concerns about the
    politicization of demarcation, especially when the wealthy
    landowners usually get the upper-hand.

    The Middle of Nowhere
    ---------------------
    ¶4.  (U) The disputed territory Raposa Serra do Sol, located
    on the border with Venezuela and Guyana in Brazil's isolated
    northern state of Roraima, covers 1.7 million hectares, about
    the size of Connecticut and Rhode Island combined.  The
    military is one of the few federal government entities whose
    personnel regularly visit the region, and they do so because
    of the military's national security mandate and border
    control responsibilities.  The inhabitants of the region are
    almost exclusively indigenous, except for agricultural
    workers on a few large rice farms.  The indigenous peoples
    there, numbering approximately 18,000 persons, are from the
    Macuxi, Ingarico, Uapixana, Patamona, and Taurepangue tribes.
     This final stage of demarcation took almost 30 years to
    accomplish, including numerous studies and congressional

    BRASILIA 00000707  002.2 OF 003

    approval.  The region has little to no development except for
    a few large rice farms, although it is rich in natural forest
    lands and crisscrossed by rivers, giving the area significant
    biodiversity.  To make room for the rice farms, thousands of
    hectares of native grasslands were cleared.

    General's remarks (reftel)
    --------------------------
    ¶5. (C) Augusto Heleno, a four-star army general, spoke out
    during a seminar in Rio de Janeiro to military authorities,
    criticizing the final demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol
    indigenous reserve.  The seminar, titled "Brazil, Threats to
    its Sovereignty," took place in the Military Club in front of
    an estimated 150 active and retired military officers.
    Heleno said, "The indigenous policy is disassociated from
    Brazilian history and must be urgently reviewed.  I'm not
    against the government organs in the area; I want to
    associate myself with reversing a failed policy -- just go
    there to see what is lamentable, not to mention chaotic."
    This was met with applause from the audience.  He also
    defended the army's independence from the government noting,
    "The Army High Command is an organization that serves the
    Brazilian state, not the government."  (Comment:  Heleno's
    words are not as provocative in the Brazilian context as they
    might appear.  They are backed by historical precedent, as
    the Brazilian military has been in a position to intervene
    when civilian government fails, and its authority to do so
    was written into the previous constitution.  Moreover, the
    Brazilian military apparatus is not accustomed to strong
    civilian leadership since democracy was re-established in
    ¶1985.  The Defense Ministry itself dates only to 1999, and
    Nelson Jobim, appointed minister of defense in 2007, has been
    unusually active in managing the military services.  End
    Comment.)

    ¶6. (U) Heleno indicated particular frustration over the GOB's
    agreement to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
    People (DRIP) because of the provisions for demilitarization
    of indigenous reserves and the nebulous terms that some argue
    grant indigenous peoples direct and sovereign control of
    their lands.  Heleno said that he had no political or
    economic agenda, but rather primarily an interest in national
    security because the territory's demarcation, coupled with
    the potential indigenous perception that DRIP makes
    indigenous territory inviolable by the military even in times
    of national emergency, might expose this sensitive border
    territory to threats.  Finally, Heleno said that, based on
    his experience with the indigenous, after land demarcation
    the indigenous do nothing to develop their lands,
    specifically with regard to necessary infrastructure for
    providing food, education, and health.  (Comment:  The
    demarcation of indigenous lands also runs counter to a common
    Brazilian notion that the appropriate way to "deal" with
    minorities, racial and ethnic, is through cultural
    assimilation with more developed society.  Heleno,s
    perspective challenges government policy as it is
    implemented, as the GOB only provides the indigenous with
    land, not taking into account the need for the capacity to
    manage it, develop it sustainably, and relate with the
    outside world -- most notably with government infrastructure.
     Of course, both the standard GOB and Heleno's perspectives
    fail to take into account what the indigenous themselves want
    and are able to do with the resources at their disposal.  End
    Comment.)

    FUNAI President Rebuts
    ----------------------
    ¶6. (SBU) Heleno is a highly-regarded officer in the Brazilian
    military, and although there was a great deal of media
    attention to his remarks, including a summons from President
    Lula to Minister Jobim and Army Commander General Enzo
    Martins Peri to have them explain this public criticism, the
    popular general was simply asked not to discuss the matter
    publicly.  However, during a newspaper interview FUNAI
    President Meira, in a veiled reference to Heleno's remarks,
    said that a conservative backlash of prejudice is returning
    against the indigenous.  He asserted that cultural

    BRASILIA 00000707  003.2 OF 003

    assimilation is a 19th Century concept, and argued that the
    indigenous pose no security threat, noting the close and
    historical relationship between the Army and the indigenous.
    The military was the first to make contact with the
    indigenous in the rough, outlying regions of the Amazon, and
    currently over half of the military personnel in the border
    area are indigenous.  Meira also said that the Army's
    presence on the border is a constitutional obligation,
    indigenous territories have always been open to the Armed
    Forces, and the indigenous peoples have not impeded the
    military's access to them, adding that all indigenous land is
    the property of the Federal Union.  When asked about the land
    titles that the rice farmers demonstrate, Meira asserted that
    these land documents were obtained illegally and mean
    nothing, saying that all of the farmers in the area are
    invaders of indigenous land.

    Much Ado about Six Rice Farms
    -----------------------------
    ¶7. (SBU) The future of several thousand hectares of rice
    plantations is in question, but the reality is that only six
    "landowners" are affected.  Landowners exert strong influence
    on Brazilian decision-makers, including members of congress,
    and often affect GOB policy.  In this case, however, it seems
    that the Lula administration is behind the indigenous.
    President Lula has stated publicly that he will work to
    overturn the Supreme Court's injunction to keep Federal
    Police from forcibly removing the rice farmers, and his
    commitment seems to have the support of his cabinet, most
    notably the Human Rights Minister, the Justice Minister, and
    the Environmental Minister.  Although GOB efforts to protect
    Brazil's "limited" rice supply have complicated the effort to
    remove the rice farmers, it seems unlikely that these illegal
    Roraima rice growers could contribute much to overall
    production levels given their isolation from reliable
    logistics points that would allow them to sell their product
    economically.

    Comment
    -------
    ¶8. (C) Both Heleno and Meira are sincere in their concerns
    about the final disposition of the Raposa Serra do Sol
    territory.  Meira believes that demarcation is important to
    protect the indigenous communities living in the territory
    and although mandated by Brazil's 1988 constitution, final
    demarcation has been repeatedly delayed and obstructed by
    powerful political and commercial interests.  Heleno is also
    sincere in his security concerns.  However, it is difficult
    to see his concerns as legitimately aimed at the indigenous
    or GOB indigenous policy, in light of the minimal military
    presence currently serving in the Amazon -- approximately
    24,000 troops cover an area the size of half the United
    States (including Alaska).  However, Heleno is correct that
    simply leaving indigenous in a vast open territory without
    proper access to government infrastructure to meet basic
    needs as Brazilian citizens is also not appropriate.  Living
    conditions for many of Brazil's indigenous are dire, and the
    GOB needs to go beyond providing land and find ways both to
    provide for the basic needs of its indigenous citizens and to
    protect their important cultural heritage.  Resolving the
    Raposa Serra do Sol dispute in favor of Brazil's indigenous
    would set a precedent and send a strong message to the
    powerful wealthy who manipulate the demarcation process for
    their own ends.  But even if the land is finally demarcated,
    the government would be mistaken to think that it has
    fulfilled its responsibility to the indigenous on the Raposa
    Serra do Sol Reserve.
    CHICOLA

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