English Briefing on the invasion of indigenous land in Brazil by loggers from Peru

Articles in this Briefing

1. 15/09/2011 LOGGERS AND NATIVES FACE OFF IN THE BORDERLANDS 2. 06/09/2011 Ashaninka mission confirms invasion by loggers from Peru in indigenous land in the state of Acre, Brazil. 3. 05/09/2011 - We denounce the presence of clandestine Peruvian loggers in Terra Indigena Ashinanka, Brazilian territory 4. History of the inspection mission carried out between days 30/08 and 02/09/2011 5. 30/08/2011- TO THE FUNAI, FEDERAL POLICE, IBAMA and BRAZILIAN ARMY 6. 22/08/2011 - Tension continues on Brazil - Peru border 7. 09/08/2011 - Brazil: Funai suspects hunting of indigenous peoples by drug traffickers from Peru

Translations from Portuguese by M. A. Kidd, supported in part by the Obadiah Brown Benevolent Fund ***

15/09/2011 LOGGERS AND NATIVES FACE OFF IN THE BORDERLANDS

by Scott Wallace, National Geographic Posting on Apiwtxa blog Madeireiros e nativos se enfrentam em faixa de fronteira* Lumberjack invasion spurs cross-border contact between native villages In a sign of growing indigenous activism and impatience with ineffectual bureaucrats, communities in Peru and Brazil have joined forces in recent days to patrol a volatile border region rife with illegal loggers and heavily armed gangs of drug-runners.

Earlier this month, a joint patrol of Ashninka natives from the Alto Tamaya River in Peru and Ashninka tribesmen from across the border in Brazil encountered multiple sites inside Peru where loggers appeared to be operating outside legally recognized concessions. The Indians also discovered a logging camp just 200 yards from the border, prompting suspicions that the lumberjacks are poised to snatch valuable timber from Brazilian national territoryAn illegal logging camp deep in the Peruvian Amazon. Photo by Scott Wallace Its a known strategy, Ashninka leader Isaac Piyko told the Pro-Indian Commission of Acre, the Amazonian border state in far western Brazil that includes the native lands of the Ashninka. They set up a camp close on the border to take away wood from Brazil. Piyko said the patrol found trunks of recently felled mahogany and cedar both endangered hardwoods protected by law as well as standing trees on the Brazil side marked with blazes by loggers for imminent harvest. Equipped with hand-held GPS units, indigenous leaders presented the geo-referenced information to Brazilian authorities in a meeting last week in the frontier city of Cruzeiro do Sul. Officials promised to look into the matter and indicated they were willing to undertake aerial surveillance and to bolster their presence in the restive border area. The Brazilian Ashninka have evolved into a well-organized and influential force in recent years, emerging as a role model for other less fortunate tribes. Their territory has been legally recognized, and tribal members enjoy a relatively high level of educational and public health services. The same cannot be said for their brethren in Peru. They have petitioned for legal title to their land for the past ten years. The government has yet to act, leaving the Peruvian Ashninka exposed to ongoing invasions from illegal loggers and a cascade of threats that keep everyone on edge when nighttime comes to the forest, and the last cooking fires wink out. Just last month, members of the Ashninka community of Saweto found three outboard motors sabotaged after they sustained a confrontation with loggers in the backwood s. The Ashninka and Ashninka are closely related indigenous groups, sharing a common language and similar customs. Scott Wallace writes about the environment and indigenous affairs for National Geographic and other publications. His forthcoming book, The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazons Last Uncontacted Tribes, will be published by Crown in October 2011. For more information, please visit www.scottwallace.com ***

06/09/2011 Ashaninka mission confirms invasion by loggers from Peru in indigenous land in the state of Acre, Brazil. Original posting on Apiwtxa site
Ashininka inspect the border. Acervo CPI/Acre Fifteen Ashaninka arrived in the forest last week and stated that the illegal exploitation of timber in Peru continues at full steam, and is crossing into Brazilian territory. By Maria Emlia Coelho, CPI/AC, 05/07/2011 Following the denunciation of the invasion of loggers in the Terra Indigena Kampa do Rio Amnia, in Acre, fifteen Ashaninka indians undertook a an inspection mission, between August 29 and September 2, on the BrazilPeru border, a region high in concentration of mahogany and cedar. The group, formed by ten indigenous participants from the village of Apiwtxa, in Acre, and five from the community of Soweto do Alto Rio Tamaya, in Peru, identified a numerous vestiges once again proving that Peruvian loggers are active in Brazilian territory. The Ashaninka mission found a camp at approximately 200 meters from the border line of Brazil, and near to a road. This is a known strategy. They set up camp near the border to remove the timber from Brazilian territory, explains Isaac Piyko, leader of the Apiwtxa village. According to the indigenous peoples of the Soweto community, another encampment exists, between markers 42 and 43, where the loggers are working with a motorized winch, a system of exploitation that causes very high environmental impact. During the mission, the Ashaninka from Peru also encountered a group of eight Peruvian and Brazilian youths in the forest, the majority being minors. The adult in the group was not there, only his son. They sat and listened like children to our appeal to not go to the Brazilian side, explained one of the indians who was in the expedition. Within the T.I. (Indigenous Territory) Kampa do Rio Amnea, on the Brazil side, and between markers 43 and 44, cut timber was found and several cedar, mahogany, copaiba copal and cumaru marked for felling and removal, continued Issac Piynko. Denunciation and Action The Ashaninka Association of Rio Amnia posted the news of the invasion on its blog, on August 29, and sent the denunciation to the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), the

Federal Police, to the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA), and to the Brazilian Army. The Army had not yet appeared, the FUNAI contacted the indigenous association requesting more information, and the agents of the Federal Police and IBAMA of Cruzeiro do Sul sought the Brazilian Ashaninka leaders with the objective of organizing a plan in conjunction with inspection of the invaded area. All geographic references and detailed reports taken during the mission were presented in a meeting on Sept. 2, in Cruzeiro do Sul. Present were Ashininka leaders Benki Piyko and Issac Piyko, Gleyson Teixeira, Apiwtxa technical advisor, Malu Ochoa, coordinator of the Commission Pro-Indio (CPI-Acre), and agents of the Federal Police and the local office of the IBAMA. In the meeting, it was defined that in coming days there would be a new inspection mission, over-flights would be conducted in the marked locations and to verify other possible clearings not seen from the ground. Video and photographic recordings would also be made. The mid and long term importance of carrying out inter-institutional monitoring work in the region was discussed, with participation of the indigenous leaders, for strengthening information exchange. If we have the logistical support of the FUNAI and IBAMA, we ourselves would have the conditions for conducting monitoring of these areas. Once a month we conduct a ground expedition to the border. This action would be reinforced with an over-flight in the region conducted by the FUNAI or IBAMA every two, three months, suggested Issac Piyko. The problem is old The lack of control over logging activity on the Peruvian side is not recent. In 2002, the government granted immense areas of forest to large scale logging companies. Without due inspection, the policy facilitates the illegal activities, which invade the native community areas. In Peru, the Ashaninka people have no title to land and have been in the struggle for demarcation for 10 years. Our relatives are constantly threatened, and some already murdered. They remain in the gun sights of the invaders and because of this we are requesting help for the people, Issac Piyko recounted. What most concerns us is that the authorities until now have not assumed their responsibilities. If we do not solve the problem, our territory will continue to be invaded,

and we will continue to suffer the death threats, a Peruvian Ashaninka leader explains, whose name was not revealed to avoid any type of retaliation. The indian from the Soweto community also explains that there have already been several meetings in the city of Pucallpa, a primary logging pole of the Peruvian Amazon, but without success. The excuse is that there is no budget for inspection missions. I remember that I once said to an inspector: Why create environmental institutions without a budget? The last apprehension by IBAMA and the Brazilian Federal Police in the Rio Amnia region occurred in 2008. FUNAI was going to put a monitoring post at this border, but as of today, this has not been done, Issac complained. The leader of the Apiwtxa village also believes that it is important to work jointly with the Peruvian government foir the removal of these persons. A preservation policy for the border is urgent, for marking the presence of the States in this region, preventing new invasions from occurring. ***

05/09/2011 - We denounce the presence of clandestine Peruvian loggers in Terra Indigena Ashinanka, Brazilian territory

Terra Indigena Kampa do Rio Amnia, September 5 of 2011 We inform the Brazilian authorities that the Ashaninka mission for the inspection on the Brazil-Peru border, occurred between the days 30/08 and 02/09/2011 and formed by 15 men of the Apiwtxa community and the Soweto community of Alto Rio Tamaya, a native community located on the Peruvian side, verified, on the ground, the presence of Peruvian loggers in the Terra Indigena Kampa do Rio Amnea, Brazilian territory. The vestiges found of the presence of Peruvian loggers in Brazil were: 1) Between the Markers 43 and 44, at approximately 200 meters from the border, near a road, a region of great density of mahogany and cedar, the mission found a clearing with a camp installed and mahogany and cedar trees marked for cutting;

2) Between markers 42 and 43 a motorized winch is being used for the work, a system that causes high environmental impact; 3) The mission also encountered, in the middle of the forest, on the Peruvian side, a group of Peruvian and Brazilian youth; The places with these vestiges were marked with GPS and all report surveys taken were located on the map of the Ashaninka Land and analyzed from the map of the invasions that occurred in 2004. To mount an encampment near the border line, a known strategy, for the invasions within the Brazilian territory. The references and information surveyed were presented by the Ashaninka leaders to the representatives of IBAMA, to the local Department of the Federal Police, and of the Commisso Pr-ndio of Acre in a meeting held in Cruzeiro do Sul, on September 2 of 2011. The local Federal Police and the local IBAMA received from Ashaninka leaders the detailed information on the location where these invasions have been occurring. And they organized, in conjunction, a plan for conducting a new inspection mission, with flights over the marked locations and for verifying other clearings in addition to what was seen on the ground. This new inspection mission is due to occur in the next few days, and also will serve for making photographic and filmed records. In addition to marking data and organizing the logistics of a new mission, the meeting reinforced the importance of creating an information channel and to conduct inter institutional monitoring work, with the participation of the indigenous leaders, to strengthen the exchange of information. ***

History of the inspection mission carried out between days 30/08 and 02/09/2011
-Representatives from the community of Soweto, on route to the Apiwtxa community for a visit of exchange, crossing through from the Tamaya river to the Amnia river, to see what had been occurring within the Apiwtxa Land, near the line of the border. And they reported on these events. - The news of new invasions in the T.I. Kampa do Rio Amonea on the part of Peruvian loggers, was taken to the Apiwtxa Community for a meeting on 29/08 to discuss the problem. In this meeting it was decided that an inspection group would be formed to go to the location indicated.

- On 30/08, the group formed by 15 Ashaninka, 10 being from the Apiwtxa community and five from the native community of Saweto do Alto Rio Tamaya, a community located on the Peruvian side, departed on a mission of inspection to the Brazil-Peru border. - The mission lasted four days. The group returned to the village of Apiwtxa on 02/09 and reported their findings. - On 02/09/2011, the Ashaninka leadership met with authorities of the local Federal Police and reported what they saw. In this meeting it was determined to conduct a new mission in the next few days.

Apiwtxa Community of the Ashaninka People of the Rio Amnia Terra Indgena Kampa do Rio Amnia, 05 September of 2011

30/08/2011- TO THE FUNAI, FEDERAL POLICE, IBAMA and BRAZILIAN ARMY

Aldeia Apiwtxa, Terra Indigena Kampa do Rio Amnia, 29 August of 2011 TO THE FUNAI, FEDERAL POLICE, IBAMA and BRAZILIAN ARMY The Apiwtxa Association of the Indigenous Land Kampa do Rio Amnia, by means of this document hereby informs the authorities, FUNAI, FEDERAL POLICE, IBAMA and BRAZILIAN ARMY that we, Ashaninka of the Apiwtxa Village, received a denunciation this week from the Ashaninka of Peru, of the Terra Indigena Alto Tamaya Soweto, that there is occurring a new invasion of Peruvian loggers within the T.I. Ashaninka do Rio Amnia. The Ashaninka people of Brazil, together with the Ashaninka people of Peru, for the defense and inspection of their territories, depart on this Monday, August 29, with 15 armed men from both parts (Peru and Brazil) for a mission of verification on the line of the Border. We expect to return on Friday, 02/09/2011. The authorities should be attentive to any notifications.

Benki Piyko Associao Apiwtxa do Povo Ashaninka do Rio Amnia Edwil Chota Organizao Ashaninka do Alto Tamaya Soweto ***

22/08/2011 - Tension continues on Brazil - Peru border

Photo: Maria Emlia Coelho By Maria Emlia Coelho, ((o))Eco Amaznia, 22/08/2011 The situation continues to be tense in the Terra Indgena Kampa e Isolados do Rio Envira, an area of protection for the isolated indigenous peoples in Acre, in the border region with Peru. The place was invaded last month (August) by armed Peruvians linked to narcotics trafficking. During the past week, gun shots were heard at least two kilometers from the base. Footprints of the isolated peoples were found near the location on Monday, August 15. The team(s) from the Fora Nacional arrived last Thursday at the base on the Xinane igarap (creek), from the Envira Ethno-environmental Protection Front (Frente de Proteo Etnoambiental Envira), from the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), to replace the six men of the Official Police Operations Battalion (BOPE) of the state of Acre that had been at the Base since August 7. Prior to this, one team of the Federal Police was present in the region to conduct an operation that captured Joaquim Fadista, a Portuguese narcotics trafficker active in Peru. The sertanista (expert forest tracker) Jos Carlos Meirelles, who remains at the Xinane base with the two woodsmen, Francisco da Assis (Chico) and Francisco Alves de Castro (Marreta), sent news by email: It is 11pm and rifle fire was again heard over the Envira river. I think that the Peruvians have dug in and are living here. That is, that they havent the slightest intention of leaving here. In the end, nothing perturbs them. The orders given to the men of the Fora Nacional (Brazilian National Guard) is that their movements be made at maximum radius of 500 meters from the base. Our plan was to search the igaraps (creeks) to see if the brothers were hiding. But it remained only a plan, the orders are to just secure the base. No one is disposed to really search these forests and

to uncover what these people, who remain here, are doing or what they want, protested the sertanista, who coordinated the Frente Envira of the FUNAI for 23 years. Today he works with the Indigenous Advisor to the Acre government. Meirelles recounted having seen footprints of the isolated peoples on the Xinane igarap about a week ago. I was with the woodsmen to get some fish and saw the footprints of two indians going into the water here near the base. They do not mindlessly walk the beach. They are here monitoring all of this insane behavior. The sertanista is also concerned about the day after. To divine who has the extra arrow?. No Peruvian government institution has yet made an official statement about the events. The National Institute of development of the Andean, Amazonian and Afro -Peruvian Peoples (INDEPA) this week requested from the Brazilian Indigenist organ more detailed and geo-referenced information on the location to make a statement on the invasion in Acre. There does not at this time exist any plan of action, in bilateral coordination of the governments of Peru and Brazil, for the protection of the isolated peoples. For little more than a week the Organizao do Tratado de Cooperao Amaznica (OTCA- Treaty Organization for Amazon Cooperation) conducted, in Brasilia, the first meeting of the Project Strategic Framework for the development of a regional agenda of protection of the indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation and in initial contact. For Mirelles, the isolated indians in the region are the true owners of this portion of Amazonia and are those who, once again, will pay the highest price in the invasion of their lands: What really happened with the isolated indigenous peoples, only the urubus 1 know.

09/08/2011 - Brazil: Funai suspects hunting of indigenous peoples by drug traffickers from Peru
By Ahni, Intercontinental Cry Heavily armed drug traffickers from Peru are beleived to be hunting isolated indigenous peoples in the Brazilian state of Acre on the border with Peru, in order to make way for cocagrowing operations.

Urubu(s) definition of the Portuguese word: 1: an indian of the Urubu, a Tupian tribe with remnants living on the upper Gurupi river in Maranho; 2 : the very common Brazilian black vulture

Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles and four employees of FUNAI, decided to travel to the region to try and stop the paramilitaries from moving in. Photo Blog da Amazonia According to FUNAI, Brazil's National Indigenous organization, late last week a group of men armed with rifles and machine guns invaded a region of Brazil dedicated to Isolated Indigenous Peoples. On August 5, Brazil's Federal Police carried out an operation along the Xinan River, where FUNAI has an outpost, in order to arrest the paramilitaries. However, they only managed to detain one person, a Portuguese man previously convicted for drug-smuggling. They also found a package containing 20kg of cocaine, reports Survival International. Sources in the office of the Federal Police Superintendent in Acre confirmed the operation, but said that they cannot comment on it because, "The issue is sensitive... it involves national security and relations between the two countries. We are awaiting authorization from Brasilia to release a report and disseminate images of the operation," said one of the Federal Police sources. As the Police decided to leave the area, four employees of FUNAI and the Amazon forest tracking expert, Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles, decided to travel to the region to try and stop the paramilitaries from moving in," reports Altino Machado at Blog da Amazonia. Since doing so, the paramilitaries have reportedly surrounded the remote guard post which FUNAI normally uses to study and protect the indigenous peoples.

Location of FUNAI oupost (red triangle). Map courtesty of Survival International. "We are here, with the Peruvians encircling us", said Carlos Travassos, the head of FUNAI's Department for the General Coordination of Isolated and Recently-Contacted Indians (CGIIRC), in a brief phone interview with Blog da Amazonia. Meirelles added: "We can't spend much time on the phone or at the computer. We have to keep a close eye on the Peruvians outside. So far, it's been quiet but we don't know how the situation will develop." Later on, Travassos issued a warning that the paramilitaries appear to be organizing the murder of indigenous peoples in the territory. "We are now more concerned than ever about the situation of the isolated peoples. This situation could be one of the largest blows to the work for the protection of isolated indigenous peoples in recent decades. A catastrophe for our society. Genocide. We are outraged," he said. The Funai team estimates the presence of at least five men in more than one paramilitary group. Travassos went on to say that a group of Ashaninkas heard the FUNAI team on the radio, and came up to bring them weapons and a boat motor. The Ashaninkas told them they saw fresh tracks belonging to three people, further down the river. "Tomorrow [Sunday] they will return to the village. At least here we now have more arms. We will need to make a new flyover to verify the integrity of the isolated peoples or at least of their malocas (community long houses). This is breaking news for us." On Sunday, the Pro-Indian Commission of Acre (CPI-AC) requested the urgent presence of the Armed Forces, the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Justice, stating,

"It is necessary that the state and federal government, as well as the Peruvian government recognize that the indigenous peoples were, are and always will be a relevant part of the national policies and dynamics, especially on the border. Now, with their security threatened, we hope that the defense of national sovereignty will not once again exceed and disconnect indigenous rights and indigenist policy of the indians. It is necessary to address the issue in an integrated manner and understand that, in this case, national security should be linked to defense of life, not only of the nation, but of those who live, survive and make the Envira region of Brazil what it is affirmed." According to latest reports, the Acre state government is preparing to send in a team of police by helicopter to provide security for the five men.

Ashaninka Videos (general reference)

A gente luta mas come fruta we struggle but survive on the land trailer: activate English captions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYkMExeSMdU Portuguese: A gente luta - part 4: mapping project and the 2008 case of logged area. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mPPdbzg9B0&feature=related

English captioned Interview produced by the Centro de Investigacin de Fronteras Amaznicas David Salisbury April 26, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytWbGwQrfxw Posted by TechMuseum Installation of satellite communications in Apiwtxa community by Star-One Aug 17, 2011http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sH80OWUZko&feature=related