Indians Protest Brazil Anniversary | Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch

Indians Protest Brazil Anniversary

April 13, 2000 | For Immediate Release


AMAZON ALLIANCE

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Brasilia, Brazil (AP) – Hundreds of Indians marching in the capital
Thursday destroyed a monument commemorating the
500th anniversary of the discovery of Brazil by Portuguese explorers.

Armed with bows and arrows, and wearing traditional war paint, some 400
Indians paraded down the main avenues of the
capital asserting there was no reason to celebrate Brazil’s discovery.

According to the Council of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Brazil,
“500 years ago began our massacre, suffering and extermination.”

Later in the day, President Fernando Henrique Cardoso met with a delegation
of Indians who presented him with a series of complaints.

“We cannot commemorate a date that marks the beginning of a tragic period
in our history,” the Indians said in a statement given to the president.
“Over the past 500 years, 90 percent of our territory has been stolen.”

Historians estimate there were about five million Indians when the
Portuguese arrived. That number has dwindled to some
300,000 today.

The marchers, who belong to tribes in Brazil’s central region, destroyed a
giant clock erected by the Globo television network to count down the days
remaining until the anniversary on April 22.

The Indians are heading to Santa Cruz de Cabralia where the Portuguese
explorer Pedro Alvarez Cabral made his first land
fall here and where the government is preparing to celebrate, together
with Portuguese authorities, the country’s 500th
anniversary.

At the same time, the Indians plan to hold a conference with 2,000 Indians
representing 215 tribes.

************************************************************
Distribuido por: Distributed by:
‘AMAZON ALLIANCE’ FOR INDIGENOUS AND
TRADITIONAL PEOPLES OF THE AMAZON BASIN
1367 Connecticut Ave. NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036-1860
tel (202)785-3334
fax (202)785-3335
amazoncoal@igc.org
http://www.amazoncoalition.org

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