Last update:
2014-04-08

Conflict between Indians and miners in the Cinta Larga lands in Rondonia, Brazil


Description:

Since the 60s there are conflicts between the Cinta Larga Indians and groups of artisan miners interested in exploiting diamond deposits in their traditional lands, an area of more than 2.6 million hectares designated by the Brazilian State as TI Roosevelt. According to studies conducted by the Departamento Nacional de Producao Mineral - DNPM, this deposits has the capacity to produce at least one million carats of diamonds. Although the Brazilian Constitution considers mineral exploitation on indigenous lands as illegal, there are bills seeking to revise it and regulate mining in this lands. The Agencia Brasileira de Inteligencia - ABIN estimates that at least 10% of the full potential of the deposit has already been removed illegally over the last fifty years.

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Basic Data
Name of conflict:Conflict between Indians and miners in the Cinta Larga lands in Rondonia, Brazil
Country:Brazil
State or province:Rondonia e Mato Grosso
Location of conflict:Espigao do Oeste, Pimenta Bueno e Rondolandia
Accuracy of locationLOW (Country level)
Source of Conflict
Type of conflict. 1st level:Mineral Ores and Building Materials Extraction
Type of conflict. 2nd level:Mineral ore exploration
Specific commodities:Diamonds
Timber
Project Details and Actors
Project details

According to studies conducted by the Departamento Nacional de Producao Mineral - DNPM, this deposits has the capacity to produce at least one million carats of diamonds.

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Project area:2600000
Type of populationRural
Start of the conflict:1963
Company names or state enterprises:Companhia de Mineracao do Estado de Rondonia (CMR) from Brazil
Relevant government actors:Centro Mineiro de Conservacao da Natureza, Agencia Brasileira de Inteligencia - ABIN, Departamento Nacional de Producao Mineral - DNPM, Companhia de Pesquisa e Recursos Minerais - CPRM, Instituto Nacional de Meio Ambiente e Recursos Naturais Renovaveis - IBAMA, Ministerio de Minas e Energia - MME, Ministerio Publico Federal - MPF, Policia Federal - PF, Comissao Parlamentar de Direitos Humanos da Camara dos Deputados - CPDH/CD
Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available:Associacao Paerena Indigena Ecologica de Protecao Ambiental, Associacao Indigena Pamare, Conselho do Povo Cinta Larga - CPCL, Coordenacao das Organizacoes Indigenas do Povo Cinta Larga - Patjamaaj, Coordenacao das Organizacoes Indigenas da Amazonia Brasileira (Coiab), Articulacao dos Povos Indigenas do Brasil (Apib), Plataforma DHESCA Brasil
Conflict & Mobilization
IntensityHIGH (widespread, mass mobilization, violence, arrests, etc...)
Reaction stageMobilization for reparations once impacts have been felt
Groups mobilizing:Indigenous groups or traditional communities
Local ejos
Social movements
Forms of mobilization:Development of a network/collective action
Development of alternative proposals
Involvement of national and international NGOs
Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism
Threats to use arms
The Indians many times called for carrying on the exploration of the deposit themselves.
Impacts
Environmental ImpactsVisible: Food insecurity (crop damage), Noise pollution, Soil contamination, Soil erosion, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover
Potential: Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Waste overflow, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Mine tailing spills
Health ImpactsVisible: Malnutrition, Violence related health impacts (homicides, rape, etc..), Infectious diseases, Deaths
Potential: Health problems related to alcoholism, prostitution, Occupational disease and accidents
Socio-economical ImpactsVisible: Increase in Corruption/Co-optation of different actors, Displacement, Increase in violence and crime, Loss of livelihood, Militarization and increased police presence, Violations of human rights, Land dispossession
Potential: Lack of work security, labour absenteeism, firings, unemployment, Loss of traditional knowledge/practices/cultures, Social problems (alcoholism, prostitution, etc..)
Outcome
Project StatusStopped
Conflict outcome / response:Compensation
Corruption
Deaths, Assassinations, Murders
Land demarcation
Migration/displacement
New legislation
Application of existing regulations
Project cancelled
Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?:No
Briefly explain:Despite the mining be considered illegal by the Brazilian State and most Cinta Larga have opted to suspend the diamond extraction on their lands. There are still groups that try to carry out mining in Indian territory.
Sources & Materials
Juridical relevant texts related to the conflict (laws, legislations, EIAs, etc)

TRINDADE, Reginaldo Pereira. Recomendacao 02/09/4 Ofcio/PR/RO do MPF para Funai. Ministerio Publico Federal em Rondonia, 07 jun. 2009. Disponivel em:
[click to view]

BRASIL. Portaria FUNAI n 490, de 13/05/2008 - Constitui Grupo Tarefa, GT, com a finalidade de implementar, coordenar e executar as acoes e medidas necessarias a viabilizacao do Plano Emergencial para Protecao Territorial, Etnossustentabilidade e Apoio as
[click to view]

References to published books, academic articles, movies or published documentaries

MAPA DE CONFLITOS ENVOLVENDO INJUSTICA AMBIENTAL E SAUDE NO BRASIL. A terrvel historia dos Cinta Larga. Disponivel em: Acesso em: 24 jan. 2013.
[click to view]

CNPI apoia reivindicacoes do povo indigena Cinta Larga. Procuradoria Geral da Uniao, 01 out. 2009. Disponivel em:
[click to view]

INSTITUTO SOCIOAMBIENTAL. Os Cinta Larga, os diamantes e os conflitos: uma cronologia (1915-2004). Disponivel em:
[click to view]

FONTES, Cristiane. Comissao Interamericana de Direitos Humanos realiza audiencia inedita com liderancas indigenas. Socioambiental, 21 fev. 2003. Disponivel em:
[click to view]

ZANCHETTA, Ines. Campanha em apoio aos indios Cinta-Larga faz alerta ao governo brasileiro e a entidades internacionais. Socioambiental, 24 out. 2003. Disponivel em:
[click to view]

Acesso em: 24 jan. 2013.

ARANDA, Ana. Garimpo de Roosevelt e uma bomba prestes a explodir, alerta MPF/RO. Amazonia da Gente, 20 ago. 2011. Disponivel em:
[click to view]

Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network

You Tube video
[click to view]

Other comments:The first contacts between the national population and the Cinta Larga Indians happened in the early 20th century, when rubber gatherers entered in their territory. The conflict intensified in 1963, when the first prospectors began to invade their lands to decimate the indigenous population. In this year, the miner Francisco de Brito and a group of gunmen raided a village Cinta Larga and used a helicopter and dynamite to massacre the Indians. This episode became known as the Massacre of Parallel Eleven. A new slaughter occurred in 1968, when ten Indians were killed after attacking miners who invaded their territory.
Meta information
Contributor:Diogo Rocha
Last update18/08/2019
Conflict ID:216
Comments
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