Note by OPAN on the facts that occurred in Juina, in the state of Mato Grosso, between the days 19 and 21 of august, 2007

Greenpeace Amazon had agreed with the Enawene Nawe Indians, in 2005, that they would take the Indians on a surveillance flight over their demarcated land, as soon as they would be in the region with their airplane. This year, while they were checking the high official figures for deforestation in Mato Grosso in 2006, they saw a good opportunity to pay their promise to the Enawene. They contacted OPAN so that they could tell the Enawene about this possibility. The flight would be made in company of two French journalists, who were making a documentary on the slowing down of the deforestation process and who wanted to show a community that totally depends on local natural resources for their food, for their cultural activities and who live in equilibrium with nature.

On Sunday afternoon, de 19^th, shortly after de arrival of the group of 2 journalists, 5 Greenpeace people and 2 people from OPAN in a hotel in Juina, local ranchers started to address the group, wanting to know what they were doing in the region. The group of ranchers said that the presence of OPAN with a group of journalists was suspicious.

The next morning, the 20^th, the hotel was surrounded by tens of ranchers, joined by the president of the Muncipal Chamber of Juína, demanding explanations on what the visitors had come to do. The group was intimidated to go to the Chamber, where a special session was immediately organized. The group was held there and yelled at during six hours by authorities and landowners of the Rio Preto. The Mayor of Juina, who thought the group was going to the region of Rio Preto, an area the Enawene claim and for which they have asked Funai to install a study group, clearly told the visitors they were not welcome, that under no circumstance he would allow them to go there and that OPAN is a “persona non grata” in the city.

Due to this situation, the trip and the documentary were cancelled. However, it was still necessary to take fuel for the Enawene to the river Juruena, which lies about 60km outside of Juina, so that they could return to their village. This trip was made under escort by the police and 7 rancher trucks. They returned late in the afternoon.

Though they had been summoned to leave town, the group of OPAN, Greenpeace and the journalists was not able to do so as the airplane that would take them, could not take off at night.  Not being able to leave, the group remained in the hotel, surrounded and basically held hostage, by a group of angry men. The ranchers stayed outside the whole night, gathered in a bar in front of the hotel, where they spent the night drinking and threatening the visitors. A car from the Military Police remained in the area, to prevent a possible invasion of the hotel, but they were not able to avoid aggressions against the photographer Alberto César, who tried to register an attempt of aggression against an Enawene Indian, who himself was filming some scenes.

On Tuesday, the 21^st, around 06:30, thirty luxury trucks full with ranchers, escorted the group that was protected by two police cars, to the airport. The parade passed through the city with lights on and horning without stopping, while insulting and throwing threats at our colleagues. The airplane took off without any major problems.

Once in Cuiaba, the capital of the state of Mato Grosso, OPAN and Greenpeace denounced what happened in Juina at the federal public ministry and they gave them a DVD with the images of the facts described above.

Context

The northwester region of Mato Grosso has been the stage of conflicts, massacres and deaths involving Indians, gold seekers, loggers, ranchers and missionaries. Until the sixties, rubber tappers and rubber barons used to be the ones to open fire against the Irantxe, Rikbaktsa, Cinta Larga and the Enawene Nawe Indians, among others. In more recent years, the conflicts with Indians have been headed with ranchers and loggers. Twenty years ago, in circumstances almost identical to today’s, Vicente Canas who was defending the rights of the Enawene to their land, was killed by local landowners. Noone has been convicted for his death.

During the last ten years, the Enawene have gone more frequently to their ancient fishing grounds in the rio Preto, a subsidiary of the Juruena river, especially during the months of their most important ritual, the Yaonkwa.

The outboard engines and the aluminium boats given to them by the ranchers of nearby Sapezal, have helped them in this.

The Enawene don’t eat red meat, having fish as their main source of protein. The fisheries by the Indians in the river, however, have caused tensions with the ranchers who claim they own the land.

Due to the growth of the indigenous population and the increasing environmental degradation of their land, the Enawene have asked FUNAI, the federal organ for Indigenous issues, to make a anthropological study of the region of the Rio Preto.

The presence of our team in Juina had no relation with the Rio Preto, because this is a matter to be solved by the Federal Government, through FUNAI. The OPAN team was only fulfilling a request of the Enawene, to accompany them, as it was a good opportunity to survey the limits of the demarcated indigenous land, which are hard to access over land, in the municipalities of Comodoro and Sapezal.

OPAN is a not for profit organization, with no religious or political goals. During the 38 years of its existence, it has always developed activities that are based on participative planning and which have the Indians as protagonists, as a way to guarantee autonomy to these people to decide over the course of their history. The same relation of trust and cooperation has been built with those who support our actions. Among these are different organs of the State and Federal governments, who at every step check our judicial and fiscal situation, apart from auditing the amounts that are trusted to OPAN. The most recent projects have had the support of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agrarian Development, the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Education. OPAN has also developed actions with ICMS/Eco (ecological tax money) in partnership with the Municipality of Juina, having fulfilled its part efficiently.

Among the projects developed by OPAN with the Enawene, are the partnership with the Ministry of Health, through FUNASA, to provide basic health care to four ethnic groups in the state of Mato Grosso. For this, OPAN has a team made up of two nurses, a dentist, several nurse assistants and a doctor who gives support when necessary. The medical team speaks the Enawene language, they live in the communal houses and they participate in the daily life of the village. For this project, OPAN has also signed agreements with the municipalities of Sapezal and Brasnorte.

OPAN campaigns for better public policies concerning indigenous issues. The organization is not against the right of citizens to develop their productivity activities under the law, but we believe that this development has to be for all and in accordance with the concepts of society, economy and spirituality of each segment of the population. The supposition that traditional ways of living and production are synonymous of backwardness is a grotesque error and disrespect to the Constitution, which guarantees the Indians the right to live in their land according to their own costumes. We respect the people of Juina and know that these factors can not be credited to the local population as a whole.

The facts that happened in Juina between 19 and 20 august go beyond the discussions on indigenous policies and the models of economical development. The normality with which basic principles of law and order were disrespected is an offence to the fight for democracy in this country. Our colleagues are being turned into runaways by threats of those who trust in impunity. Until when will we continue to compare the list of those threatened with death and those who are dead, while we whish luck to those who fight for a fairer society? Much more then T-shirts with the faces of those we have lost, we need an immediate answer of the governmental authorities.

The conflicts are old, complex and demand the construction of a collective solution by the different governmental institutions to attend to the demands of the interested parts. This way, a peace and development process can start that will take into account the different visions in the process.

Cuiabá, august 28th 2007.