05.08.2009
Another case of spilled blood around the dams

Last week our struggle for land and rights took yet another bloody turn. Odilon Bernardo da Silva, member of MAB (Movement of Dam Affected People) was shot twice and died in front of his house in the municipality of Aroeiras (State of Paraiba). There is no information as yet for the motives and actors of the crime.

The leaders of our movement in the region are suffering constant threats against their lives. Recently, dam affected people were camped in a farm, demanding the revision of the compensation scheme and resources to improve their living conditions to the levels before the construction of the Acauá Dam. After two months of protest they were expelled from the farm but they set up a new camp nearby and then they started receiving threats for their lives.

Another region where our activists are facing constant threats to their lives is the region of the Tucuruí dam. In a note last week, MAB alerted the society and authorities on the case. “These threats have always originated from sectors linked to the big financial interests of the region, mainly land grabbers and speculators, agribusinesses, charcoal and timber extractors, which in most of the cases operate illegally and systematically destroy the Amazonian rainforest and its people”.

According to data from the Land Pastoral Commission of Tucuruí, during the last three years (2006-2009) 14 leaders of rural social movements have been assassinated due to their struggle for land and against illegal appropriation of natural resources. The most recent case was last April with the assassination of Raimundo Nonato, president of the Syndicate of Rural Workers of Tucuruí. Until now, nothing has been done to bring the authors and the perpetrators of the crime to justice.

The recent death threats against leaders of MAB were registered in the police department of Tucuruí. This time around they were directed to Roquevan Alves Silva and Dilma Ferreira da Silva and indirectly to other leaders. Up to now, no provision has been taken by the authorities, fact that helps preserve a climate of fear and tension in the region.

According to leaders of MAB “it is urgent for the competent authorities to intervene and investigate seriously these crimes and finally do something to stop them. Otherwise we will once more be accomplices to this sad reality of violence and death in the countryside”.

Support and solidarity

Partner entities and social movements are sending messages of solidarity since the death of our comrade. Also, human rights entities have offered their help in order to bring the culprits to justice and prevent that new cases occur. In addition, last Tuesday, Federal Deputy Luiz Couto (Workers Party – State of Paraiba) denounced in the deputies chamber the assassination of Odilon Bernardo da Silva Filho. "We demand an immediate investigation and punishment of those responsible for the assassination of Odilon; we demand an end to violence and threats in Itatuba and punishment of the people responsible for these actions; we demand the immediate resettlement of the families displaced by the Acaua dam; and we demand revision of the unjust compensation scheme in place”.