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Summer
2002 Research Report
Gisele
Henriques
Goldman School of Public Policy
"Organizing
to Revitalize the São Francisco River:
The Truká people, local fishermen, the
church and NGOs" |
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These
rocks, located in the indigenous land of the Truka
people, used to be covered by water, and show how
much the river has dried up.
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“It is believed that a long time ago, deep in the heart of the Canastra
Mountains in Minas Gerais, Brazil, there was a beautiful young Indian girl named
Iati. In her time, there was a great war and Iati’s lover was called to
defend their land and their people from the invaders. But the invaders were many,
with great powers and ammunition, and the Indian warriors sank in the wrinkles
of the deep forest.
Iati,
sad and alone, cried copiously until the last days of
her life. Her desperate tears formed the waterfall whose
waters follow the sunken footsteps of the Indian warriors,
forming the great river-sea, known to the Indians then
as Opará, and to us today as the São Francisco
River”. – Legend of the tears of Iati
The Truká People
This
popular legend is well known to the 15 million inhabitants
of the São Francisco River Valley. The Truká are
an indigenous people, living on an island halfway between
two large dams, Itaparica and Sobradinho. In addition
to the Truká there are 17 other indigenous tribes
living along the São Francisco River. The river
runs 2.700 km from spring to sea, through 5 states in
the Northeastern Region of Brazil. Fifty eight percent
of its course cuts through the sertão, Brazil’s
semi-arid region, plagued by drought and famine. The
importance of this river, documented through verse and
prose by its inhabitants, could not halt its continued
degradation. In the 500 years since its “discovery” by
Europeans, the river has been suffering a long process
of dilapidation due to non-sustainable water and development
policies.
The
Truká have been expelled from their land along
the river numerous times since Europeans came to colonize
the region. They were forced to live generations in exile.
Finally in the 1970’s they returned, committed
to securing their land and water rights. Ailson Truká,
the local chief says, “The River is the life vein
of my people. In 1979 they started to imprison him by
building dams and since then we have been paying a very
high price”. To the Truká this high price
includes a decrease in the volume of water around their
island, high levels of pollution and water related diseases,
and the extinction of the native fish population. This
is because today the river is used to supply water for
urban, rural and industrial needs, generate electricity,
and provide water for the region’s many irrigation
projects. There are currently 7 hydroelectric power plants
in the river basin alone, not including those in the
tributaries. The environmental problems afflicting the
river have caused damage to the ecosystem, thereby causing
disequilibria to the way of life of the Truká and
other riverine communities.
Neguin
Truká, a local organizer, explained “I saw
my grandfather suffer because he was illiterate. They
took advantage of him because of that, and today we have
to organize ourselves to fight for what is ours. Our
grandfathers taught us that we have to follow our traditions
to the death”. It is in this spirit that the Truká people
have joined civil society’s current push to revitalize
the São Francisco River. Members of riverine communities,
such as indigenous people, fishermen, the Catholic Church,
and environmentalists are organizing to rescue their
beloved Opará. Their acts of resistance are currently
organized under the banner of the revitalization project
that was once a government conception, but is now a loosely
identified local strategy to raise consciousness and
preservation efforts. Originally, the efforts for revitalization
were part of a government initiative, which in 2001 awarded
the project $84 million Reais (about $22 million US)
in funds. The funds were meant to support state initiatives
to preserve the river, but about one third of the money
has disappeared and since 2001. There have been no more
funds allocated for this cause. As a result, civil society
has taken responsibility for continuing these efforts
and defining revitalization for the river based on their
own needs and realities.
Ailson
Truká is wary of government involvement in the
river stating, “ The issue of preservation is quite
complex and dangerous, and we run many risks because
in organizing we are directly confronting the government
and large business interests. Any political action taken
by the people is not respected by the government and
can easily lead to repression”. Nonetheless they
have taken part in actions, both local and nationwide,
to advocate a halt to destructive deforestation along
the riverbanks and push for adequate sewage treatment
for the 504 municipalities located along river. They
have also sparked ecological consciousness through environmental
education in their territory. To them the revitalization
of the river will only occur if there is unity among
all interested social movements. Only then will they
have the leverage to confront the government and demand
a halt to the destructive profit seeking policies that
have plagued the river.
Ailson
says his people have been particularly hurt by the decimation
of local fish species, “Years ago we used to leave
a pot of water boiling, throw the line into the river
and return shortly with fish to cook. Today, because
of all of the pollution and the great walls that interfere
with the upstream run of the fish, we can no longer rely
on local fish, we have to buy them from outside markets
instead”. Xico Truká, one of the tribe’s
shamans laments the disappearance of the fish and with
them an activity that marked their way of life: fishing. “The
golden fish used to leap out of the water and smack our
chests when we crossed the river in our canoes”.
Amidst
the destruction of their beloved Opará, the Truká are
finding a political voice and an opportunity to join
the rest of civil society in fighting for the preservation
of the river. According to Xico Truká, “Our
warring spirit is our divine enchantment”.
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Children
performing at the Romaria, a religious gathering
to discuss land and water.
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The
Fishermen
The fish that were once strong
Swam all along
In their upstream run to spawn
Today the dams control the tides
And the fish can no longer ride
From the ocean to the spring nor
From the spring to the ocean
- Zé da Feira – local poet
Today the original city of Remanso lies submerged mid-river next to the massive
Sobradinho Dam. Almost twenty-five years ago the building of that dam displaced
72,000 people from 4 different cities, including Remanso. For many fishermen
the São Francisco River was their patron. He supplied them with
fish to earn a living. As a result of the dam the fishermen no longer call
the São Francisco a river, but rather a lake. The dam formed the
largest manmade lake in the world a virtual mirror of water. High temperatures
averaging 30 degrees Celsius or 86 degrees Fahrenheit exposed to 3400 hours
of sunlight per year, result in high evaporation and wasted water in a
region where it is scarce and very much in demand.
Pedro
Alves da Costa from the fishermen’s union of Remanso
connects the destruction of the river with the destruction
of local culture. He recalls, “The old sail boats
would go up river selling salt and sugar and return with
spirits and dried salted fish.They would go along selling
these products and carrying musicians and poets to the
different cities along the river. This informal commerce
was part of the region’s culture, but today because
of the dams and all the sand that has settled in the
river bed, the boats can no longer sail and that way
of live has been destroyed”.
Valdisio,
a resident of Remanso, has been a fisherman for 35 years.
He remembers that before the dam they were able to plant
crops in the floodplains, using the natural rhythms of
the river’s flood regimes. “Every year, before
the construction of Sobradinho dam the flood cycle was
the same and we used that to plant our crops in the floodplains
to supplement our incomes, today we can no longer do
that. Now there are some months I average about $400-$600
Reais ($105 – 131 US) from fishing, other months
I average $200 Reais ($52 US). We can no longer survive
from fishing alone and we can no longer supplement our
income with floodplain agriculture so have to look for
construction work instead”.
The
fishermen of the lower river in the city of Penedo, Alagoas
are not near any dams, but their city is close to the
mouth of the river. According to Edesio Vieira, a fisherman
from Penedo, “The greatest sign of the river’s
death is that it no longer lives out the natural cycle
of flood regimes, it was this cycle that used to clean
out the river of all its pollutants, today the river
is weak”. By the time the waters reach that city
they have flowed through the many dams, gathered toxins
along the way and arrive with virtually no native fish
species. The fishermen of the area have been organized
into a union since 1929 and they do not want to let go
of their way of life. Instead they have resorted to psiculture.
Alfredo Fernandes, president of the union describes the
project, “The hatchery project initiated out of
necessity to find alternatives because there were no
more fish in the river. We buy Thai Tilapia and place
them in cages in the river; we feed them, raise them
and then sell them. It has not been easy, we are learning
by doing and the initial costs have been very high, especially
the feed”.
Fishermen
from Penedo and Remanso are using their unions to help
preserve the river and organize with other social groups
to secure its healthy revitalization. “If we don’t
preserve the river there will be 15 million people from
this region trying to migrate to larger cities across
the country or die of hunger”, says Pedro. These
fishermen also organize with other groups in their region
to raise awareness about the river. In the city of Penedo
for instance, every year the fishermen conduct meetings
with other local groups ranging from businesses to schools
to celebrate October fourth, the feast of São
Francisco. The celebration involves clean up activities,
essay contents about the river in local schools and musical
performances.
“There
are some things that have to come from us”, says
Pedro, “ the revitalization project needs to come
from us. I don’t believe in any preservation effort
that doesn’t involve the local community. If the
government decides to do it by themselves and then shove
it down our throats it won’t work. Revitalization
needs to start with educating local communities about
the environment they live in”.
The
Church
“From the green Canastra Mountains through shoots and falls playing among
the rocks like a mischievous boy, the river runs to the semi-arid. Like the saint
who bears his name, the river was born in the lush and wealthy mountains of Minas
Gerais and took a vow of poverty to serve the underprivileged of the dry Brazilian
Northeast; he brings life to 15 million human beings. His destiny is to live
to serve the poor and to die generating life”.
– Frei Luiz Cappio, clergyman
Frei Luiz Flavio Cappio is a Franciscan monk and the bishop of Barra, a city
that lies along the margins of the São Francisco River. Much like
the river, he too was born among wealth and after working with migrant
workers from the Northeast in São Paulo took on a vow of poverty
and chose to live in the sertão. “At the core of the Franciscan
spirit lies a love for life and nature” says the Frei, “that
is why I chose to do a year long pilgrimage on foot and boat starting at
the spring in the Canastra Mountains to the mouth of the river”.
The purpose of this pilgrimage was to raise the awareness of riverine communities
as to the river’s destruction. In every community he went Frei Luiz
heard stories about the river’s importance to that community, its
ailing health, the lack of fish and the pollution. “Every morning
when the women wake up, they go to the river to wash their face. They pour
the water on their foreheads and ask for the river’s blessing. This
river is vital to these communities and they are ready to do what they
can to defend it”.
The
Catholic Church is very prominent in the region and it
too has been drawn into the struggle for revitalization.
During the 30 plus years of military dictatorship in
Brazil the Church was the only institution that was not
shut down for organizing against the military regime.
In the spirit of liberation theology radical members
of the clergy rose to support human rights issues during
those repressive times. It is in this spirit that many
clergymen like Frei Luiz use their influence with the
population to raise consciousness and educate them about
preservation.
Every
year for the last 25 years, the Church organizes the
Romaria das Terras e das Aguas – The Pilgrimage
for Land and Water. This pilgrimage draws thousands of
people from the Northeast, but it is goal is not solely
for worship; rather it is a time for communities, NGOs,
church groups, and unions to discuss the politics of
land and water. The Romaria was started 25 years ago
when a group of five men came from the state of Ceara
in a beat up lorry to worship at the holy grotto of Lapa.
They came to pray for land. In their time land distribution
was a major problem in Brazil as it continues to be today.
This first trip became folklore in the region and today
the Romaria attracts thousands of others who come to
ask God for land and water rights. Church organizers
see the merits of opening political discussion about
these issues. “ The main problem in this country
is agrarian reform, without it there will always be unequal
distribution of wealth: who owns the land owns the water,
and in this dry region the lack of water means death.
Who controls the water controls the people,” says
Frei Luiz. The Romaria lasts three days and is filled
with workshops and discussion ranging from the revitalization
of the river to agrarian reform.
Frei
Luiz believes that “The people are essential to
any preservation effort because the river is an integral
part of their lives. I believe in change from below,
change from above is imposition”.
Non-Governmental
Organizations
“The preservation of the river is more than an ecological salvage; it is
also a recovery of the culture of the people of the São Francisco River
Valley. Revitalization is therefore, more than an ecological task it is about
social inclusion. Without the local population there will be no revitalization
for the river, without policies that generate an improvement in the quality of
life of the people of the valley there will be no revitalization”.
– Anselmo Souza – Gambá, local environmental
NGO, 2002
Behind the scenes of the revitalization efforts are non-governmental organizations.
Many are environmentalists, while others are concerned with the social,
economic and political rights of the people of the Valley. In the mid 1990’s
the idea of transferring the river’s waters to other states in the
Northeast began gaining support with local and federal politicians. For
those concerned with the river, the water transfer project would create
a further strain to the already ailing river. In response, civil society
began a massive organizational campaign to halt this destructive project.
Out of this organizational effort surged the Permanent Defense Forum of
the São Francisco River. “The forum was crucial to halt the
water transfer project. People took to the streets and demanded that the
government abandon the idea of transferring the river’s waters. We
feel that the level of public awareness about the river grew significantly
after this campaign”, says Marina Braga of the Pastoral Land Commission.
Today
the Forum contains over 30 organizations ranging from
environmental NGO’s to church groups, unions, community
organizations and small farmer initiatives. It is an
all-inclusive entity that attempts to organize civil
society in preserving the river. The NGOs play a fundamental
role in this organizational effort, according to Anselmo
Souza of Gambá, “The NGOs set up organizing
networks and dispense much of the information about the
efforts to revitalize the river. We bring together many
groups of people, from local communities to engineers
and we have the capacity to disseminate information and
lobby government”. The Forum holds regular local,
state, and regional meetings where they discuss pro-active
measures and day-to-day initiatives to preserve the river.
The Forum functions to disseminate information, monitor
large users, denounce damaging actions, update participating
members on government initiatives and to organize civil
society in the struggle to save the river. They constantly
keep pressure on government leader to carry out more
democratic policies. This pressure ensured the temporary
halt of the water transfer project and has shifted government
attention to the revitalization of the river. According
to Gogo Malvezzi of the Pastoral Land Commission “The
forum started as a reaction to the water transfer project,
but today it focuses on uniting civil society to pursue
an inclusive debate about revitalization. There is a
need for a central organ in civil society to articulate
a unified platform to the government about the river
and potential preservation efforts from below”.
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The
hydroelectric plant of Sobradinho lies in the middle
of the river and is one of 7 power plants on the
basin.
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There
is a divergence between civil society’s quest for
a healthy river and government and business interests
in the region and in the water. According to Malvezzi, “The
crisis of water in the São Francisco River Valley
symbolizes the larger national and international crisis
of degradation and exploitation of the world’s
rivers for profit”. In response to civil society’s
efforts the government decreed on June of 2001 a Committee
inclusive of all users to monitor and manage decisions
concerning the river. This watershed committee represents
all interests and aims to create a policy making body
that is truly democratic and inclusive in its decision
making. The participating representatives include business
and user interests, like electricity companies and irrigation
projects, as well as municipal, state, and federal leaders,
and members of civil society. About 27% of the seats
in the committee are designated for civil society, 40%
to business and user interests and the remaining 33%
of the seats have been designated for local, state and
federal representatives. This Committee will manage all
of the preservation efforts, stimulate discussion to
decide on sustainable development tactic for the region,
and establish a plan for managing water. The Committee
has establisehd a space for social negotiation where
all interested agents debate their proposals. Members
hope that his mechanism will help provide some transparency
in the policy making process. One of the main tasks of
this Committee will be to outline, implement and ensure
the revitalization of the river. Members of civil society
are suspicious of the committee, Malvezzi says, “The
Committee has a potential for both success and disaster.
We are not sure how much leverage civil society will
have amidst the great economic interest of the other
users”.
The
revitalization of the river remains an intention that
means different things to different users. Despite the
ambivalence behind this project it should be brought
to reflect the aspirations and needs of the people of
the valley. It is, nonetheless, an opportunity for different
groups in society to express their interests and together
mobilize for a more democratic and just approach to policies
that concern their livelihoods.
The
author is a graduate student at the University of California
Berkeley School of Public Policy. The text was a result
of 8 weeks of field research in the São Francisco
River Valley in the summer of 2002. For more information
on the River and current projects refer to www.irn.org/programs/latamerica/saofrancisco.pdf
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The
village of Cabeço, which was inundated by
the sea. The river is losing strength and the sea
is advancing into it.
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