I am not going to run or abandon the fight of the people of the forest, who are unprotected. They have the sacred right to a life with dignity.
-Sister Dorothy
Hi everyone. Right now I am in Marabá, the second largest city in Pará. This is the second most violent city in Brazil and I will tell you why in a second. First, I need to brief you on the basic history of land conflicts in the Amazon in the last 100 years.
The Amazon is full of people. Not just indigenous people, no. In fact, most inhabitants are ribeirinhos- decendents of european and indigenous groups who live extracting resources from the forest. Put it in your mind right now that the Amazon is a deserted area. People live here and have done so for longer than most American families have lived on their land.
In the early year of the 20th century, Brazil went through a lot of governmental change. It became independent through political tactics, not through war, so it never really had a period of setting up the government like the United States had. Back and forth the power would go, and I will skip ahead to the 1950s when the military took over the government. At this point the counrty was in debt to foreign nations and at the same time wanted to come in to the modern age. The military government decided to promote economic growth by giving away large tracks of land to people and companies, giving ridiculous tax breaks to anyone who promised to create economic activity. The Amazon, seemingly useless in terms of production, was divided up and given to pretty much anyone. (The motive behind this also involved a paranoia that this ´´uninhabited´´ land needed to be defended from foreign invaders if no one was there to protect it.) The slogan of the government became ´´Land without people for people without land.´´
Long story short- thousands of people swarmed to the Amazon region to stake their claim, along with multi-national corporations. BUT THE AMAZON IS HUGE! Most of the land had been unmapped at that time and the population was growing so fast (56% a year during the 1960s) that no government aganecy could keep track of who had what land. They didn´t care, either. So the fight began- big business fighting with newly immigrated peasants fighting with people who had already lived in the area at the time. Land conflicts began to be solved with hired gunmen and excessive violence. This trend continues to this day.
Small family farmers began to organize in the late 1970s and early 80s through church groups. Churches were the only social organizations allowed under the military regime. This was how the famous Landless People´s Movement was created. Farmers fought and their leaders were killed. Over eight hundred rural leaders were murdered in the last ten years for defending their right to land and life. Sister Dorothy, a nun from Ohio, was one of them. Chico Mendes was another...I can go on for hours.
Tomorrow we are going to a place called the S Curve. On April 17, 1996, nineteen rural workers were violently murdered during a peaceful protest asking the government for food and transportation to the nation´s capital. I will be there for the anniversary. Wish all the gatherers peace and luck during their demonstrations.
There is a lot more I would like to tell you, but I guess I will do that face-to-face. I miss all of you so much. I am not just saying that to be nice, I really do feel like I am missing a part of me. Keep me in your thoughts tomorrow.
Today´s mission: Learn about the ´´question of land´´ in the Brazilian Amazon. Look up the stories of Sister Dorothy and Chico Mendes.
