Defending Brazilian indigenous land rights

We are writing to ask for LASNet's friends and supporters, urgent help to defend Brazilian indigenous land rights. Indigenous land rights in Brazil are under attack. The month of August will be absolutely crucial.

We are writing in the hopes of generating international support for a petition (http://www.petitiononline.com/rss408/petition.html) to defend the borders of the Raposa Serra do Sol Reservation in northern Brazil, home to the 5 indigenous peoples (Ingarikó, Makuxi, Taurepang, Wapixana and Patamona).

Makunaima Grita (http://www.makunaimagrita.com), a network supporting the indigenous peoples in Brazil, is taking urgent action to protect this particular Reservation because a Supreme Court decision negating the borders would be a catastrophic precedent, throwing into question all indigenous land rights in Brazil.

The rights of 18,000 indigenous people in Raposa Serra do Sol are being challenged by the Roraima State government in the interest of a handful of powerful rice farmers, who would like to undo the demarcation of the Reservation. The State government's and rice farmers' intention is to replace constitutional guarantees with their private interests, that in this case aim to consolidate their predatory action over the Brazilian Amazon.

The farmers have begun a campaign of intimidation and violence against indigenous people who are attempting to assert the territorial integrity of the Reservation. (Please see the video below.)

In 2005, the President of Brazil passed a law recognizing the borders of the Raposa Serra do Sol Reservation. We are merely asking that this law be respected.

The Brazilian Supreme Court will rule by the end of the month on the borders of Raposa Serra do Sol Reservation, in Roraima State. The negation of the rights of the indigenous peoples of Roraima would represent a setback for indigenous rights in Brazil and for the right to cultural diversity, and an affront to the Constitution.

We are aiming to get as many supporters as we can - in Brazil and outside. The petition will be delivered in Brasília later this month.

Thanks in advance for your support. Would it be possible to invite your members to...?

+++view videos+++

http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/raposa(English)

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=WjPg-Nt1Psc (Spanish)

+++read more+++

http://www.cafod.org.uk/brazil/right-to-land
http://www.survival-international.org/tribes/raposa
http://www.rainforestfoundation.org/?q=en/node/77

+++++SIGN the petition+++++

http://www.petitiononline.com/rss408/petition.html

++write us with questions++

For any queries, write to
contato@makunaimagrita.com and CC to lasnet@latinlasnet.org

++forward invite your friends and family++