Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Campo Grande (Agenzia Fides) – Beginning March 15, the national leadership of the Missionary Indigenous Council (CIMI) and members of various regions in which the institution operates, met in Campo Grande (Mato Grosso du Sul, MS) to reaffirm their commitment and solidarity with the peoples of the region. Together with the President of the organization and the Bishop of the Prelature of Xingu, Bishop Erwin Kräutler, CIMI wants to give unconditional support to the struggle of indigenous peoples to guarantee their rights and in particular, their land. The Secretary General of the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB), Bishop Dimas Lara Barbosa, participating in this event, has personally and carefully observed the situation faced by these people.
Serious violations of human rights, confinement in small reservations, high levels of violence, infant mortality, fields of indigenous families on the roadside: this is all a reality of poverty and lack of assistance and were the reasons that led the group to gather and decide to visit the area. Earlier this month, members of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights Office of the President of the Republic also visited these people and observed the situation of extreme poverty.
After analyzing the current situation of indigenous peoples in the state, members of CIMI reaffirm in a public letter that, "with the Bishops of the 5th General Conference of Latin America and the Caribbean, the Church is called to be an advocate for justice and defend the poor in the face of intolerable social and economic inequalities that raise their cry to heaven." Also, in the document, members of CIMI support the historical resistance of the natives, who although deprived of the opportunity to have their voices heard, shout: "No more impunity, no more discrimination, no more lack of land and rights." (CE) (Agenzia Fides 23/03/2010)
