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Evaluation and planning for the campaign in defence of the cerrado brings together movements and social organizations in Brasília
06 de February de 2018Between 31 January and 2 February, organizations and social movements who work for the Campaign in Defence of the Cerrado came together in Brasilia (DF) to evaluate activities undertaken in 2017 and construct a strategic agenda for 2018. Given the scenario of setbacks, it was determined that activities should focus on strengthening the campaign, through: more active participation from the movements, local organizations and communities from the Cerrado; international projection of the campaign in countries in Latin America, the United States and in European countries that have a tradition of the defence of social and environmental causes; and participation in arenas and events, such as the Alternative World Water Forum (Fórum Alternativo Mundial da Água: FAMA), which will take place between 17 and 22 March 2018 in Brasilia (DF), in order to unify the struggle against the attempts of large corporations to transform water into a commodity.
According to Isolete Wichinieski, an agent from the Pastoral Land Commission in Goiás (Comissão Pastoral da Terra em Goiás: CPT-GO), progress has been made in terms of impact on public opinion, through political training and greater visibility of the difficulties faced by the communities and traditional peoples given the expansion of agribusiness and livestock breeding in the Cerrado, in the context of the 2017 political situation in Brazil, which was particularly challenging.
On 1 and 2 February, the campaign’s Collective of Communicators focused on the strategic agenda to map the target audience and the activities to be undertaken in 2018.
For two years the campaign has worked for the defence of the territories, communities, water and biodiversity of the Cerrado, confronting agribusiness and its advances in the states of Maranhão, Tocantins and Piauí, in advocacy with the public authorities for the transformation of the Cerrado/Caatinga into National Heritage – Constitutional Amendment 504, and in the defence of indigenous territories, quilombolas and traditional peoples.
Find out more about the Campaign in Defence of the Cerrado: http://semcerrado.org.br/ (in Portuguese).
SEE WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT US
CESE was set up during the most violent year of the Military Dictatorship, when torture had been institutionalized, when arbitrary imprisonment, killings and the disappearance of political prisoners had intensified. The churches had the courage to come together and create an institution that could be a living witness of the Christian faith in the service of the Brazilian people. I’m so happy that CESE has reached its 50th anniversary, improving as it matures.
I am a macumba devotee, but I love being with partners whose thinking is different from ours and who respect our form of organization. CESE is one such partner: it helps to build bridges, which are so necessary to ensure that freedom, diversity, respect and solidarity can flow. These 50 years have involved a lot of struggles and the construction of a new world.
In the name of historical and structural racism, many people look at us, black women, and think that we aren’t competent, intelligent, committed or have no identity. Our experience with CESE is different. We are a diverse group of black women. We are in varied places and have varied stories! It’s important to know this and to believe in us. Thank you CESE, for believing in us. For seeing our plurality and investing in us.
When we hear talk of the struggles of the peoples of the waters, of the forests, of the semi-arid region, of the city peripheries and of the most varied organizations, we see and hear that CESE is there, at their side, without replacing the subjects of the struggle. Supporting, creating the conditions so that they can follow their own path. It is this spirit that we, at ASA, want you to maintain. We wish you long life in this work to support transformation.
Over these 50 years, we have received the gift of CESE’s presence in our communities. We are witness to how much companionship and solidarity it has invested in our territories. And this has been essential for us to carry on the struggle and defence of our people.
You have to praise CESE’s capacity to find answers so as to extend support to projects from traditional peoples and communities, from family farming, from women; its recognition of the multiple meanings of the right to land, to water and to territory; the importance of citizenship and democracy, including environmental racism and the right to identity in diversity in its discussion agenda, and its support for the struggles and assertion of the values of solidarity and difference.