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En bref
During Rio+20, the Xavante indigenous people partnered with other organizations mastering a strategic intervention to regain the land that had been promised to them 20 years before.
Under Brazil’s military dictatorship, the government heavily promoted development in the Amazon. In the 1960s, a multinational oil company, Agip Petroli, bought part of a Xavante indigenous area known as Maraiwatsede. In 1992, Xavante chief Damiao Paridzane went to Rio de Janeiro for the UN’s Earth Summit. There, he was promised that Agip Petroli would return part of his people’s territory. Twenty years later, the return of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) to Rio de Janeiro marked a symbolic and relevant moment for raising the issue of what had happened to the Xavante since the first conference.
Ever since they were forcibly removed by the military dictatorship in 1966, the people of Maraiwatsede has been trying to return to their ancestral land. Instead, the land was occupied primarily by ranchers and local politicians supported by the state government of Mato Grosso. Meanwhile, 85 percent of its area was deforested, and it became known as the most devastated indigenous land in the Brazilian Amazon.
The Rio+20 Conference was a unique opportunity to give visibility to the Xavante cause and pressure the government to fulfill its 20-year old promise.
The Rio+20 Conference was a unique opportunity to give visibility to the Xavante cause and pressure the government to fulfill its 20-year-old promise, particularly as the courts had already ordered that the land be returned to the community. OPAN (Native Amazon Operation), an organization that supports the Xavante, along with Escola de Ativismo (School of Activism), planned a series of political actions to pressure the Brazilian government to return Maraiwatsede land to the Xavante. The community participated actively in the decision-making process, and together developed a plan that resonated with their knowledge and way of organizing.
During the People’s Summit march, the Xavante held their traditional log races, but ran in the opposite direction of the march, to symbolize the setbacks to indigenous rights and the disregard of the Brazilian government for the people of Maraiwatsede. Their action caught the attention of the organizers and participants, as well as the press and photographers.
Meanwhile, a variety of communications materials were developed to support the cause: a news blog, videos and photos to inform the press and civil society, in four languages. The message was bolstered by a strong visual identity that was created for the campaign, including social media, printed material about the Xavante, t-shirts, and banners.
Finally, to mark their presence in the negotiations of the official Rio+20 Conference in front of all authorities and heads of State, the Xavante intended to send their message directly to the Brazilian government. As soon as they spotted the Chief Minister of the General Secretary of the Republic, Gilberto Carvalho, and then-President of FUNAI, Marta Azevedo, the Xavante performed their intervention.
On the t-shirts that they wore and on the posters that they held, the message was clear: "Dilma, return Maraiwatsede". Their demonstration generated great repercussions in the national and international media, with good coverage, images and interviews in important media outlets. In front of the reporters, minister Carvalho assured the Xavante that removing the invaders from Maraiwatsede was a priority for the federal government. On the same day, chief Damiao Paridzane was one of the 13 indigenous leaders who had a private meeting with the chief minister of the Presidency and other authorities.
The visibility achieved at Rio+20 bothered the politicians and farmers who had properties within Marawaitsede. They organized roadblocks and burned bridges to prevent community leaders from returning from Rio de Janeiro to the village. The situation of intense tension and conflict triggered a series of actions by the federal government, which hastened to fulfill the court order determining the removal of invaders from Maraiwatsede. A month later, the Supreme Court decided in favour of the indigenous community. Non-indigenous occupants of the area were notified, and the removal process began. Today, Maraiwatsede belongs to the Xavante once again.
Tactique clé
The presence of the Xavante in the official Rio+20 negotiations was essential to bring Maraiwatsede to visibility and expose 20 years of negligence by the Brazilian government. The response was immediate: in addition to the Chief Minister of the Presidency of the Republic’s guarantee to return Maraiwatsede to the Xavante, the government acted to prevent the escalation of violence in the region and removed the invaders from the area, keeping their word to the Xavante.
Principe clé
The success of this case is due to the leadership role of the indigenous community, which allowed the partner organizations to understand how they intended to act, taking into account their vision, their priorities, and their form of social organization.