Police found the body of a rural worker 300 meters from where Sister Dorothy was murdered. It is thought this could be an attempt by her killer to cover their tracks. Attorney General Fonteles has asked for a Federal Investigation. The burial will happen today, Monday, in the city of Anapu. Read our Editorial.
The easy investigation on the death of Sister Dorothy Stang (02/13/2005)
After 38 years in Amazonia- with her death announced almost daily- Sister Dorothy ended up not believing any more in the possibility that she would be silenced for ever. ?If they haven’t sent me away before, imagine now at 74 years old?, she wrote last January to her congregation.
In the last 15 months, inclusive, her name became somewhat of a legend, what would normally represent insurance for one’s life in the Anapu district in the region of Altamira, along the Transamazonia highway. She was named honorary citizen of Para by the State legislature, won an award from the Order of Brazilian Attorneys-Para state (OAB-PARA), was received by the National Congress and by two federal ministers, the Secretary of Human Rights Nilmario Miranda and the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva. In sum, a figure that anyone with judgement should, strictly speaking, avoid getting involved with.
At the same time, however, the value of the land, coveted by those who wanted to assassinate her, increased. Since the year 2000, the energy from the Tucurui line had pushed to Anapu, a village of 700 people, many illegal loggers, following the end of their timber supply in Para’s eastern region. The village reached 10 thousand people at the end of 2003. Enough to make unfeasible the two sustainable development projects in the glebes Belo Monte and Pacaja, created on paper in 1999. The PDS is a settlement project idealised by INCRA during Cardoso’s government and which still today has not yet been made concrete. The confirmation of the construction of Belo Monte, in the last couple of months, assisted in heating up the land grabbing market. INCRA’s grave mistake, more than five years ago, fed the expectative of the invaders and land speculators.
With this scenario, it should be mentioned that for the Para justice system, up until the day of her death, Sister Dorothy was not a person marked for death; but however, yes a suspect being investigated as an accomplice in the assassination of plantation security guard. Similar accusations were made – important to remember the journalist Lucio Flavio Pinto- regarding Bishop Estevao Avelar, and the Priest Florentino Maboni. The paradox did not worry this fighter with a gentle voice, firm convictions and relentless energy. But it is an important indicator of the fact that in Para, the justice system is not the solution but yes part of the problem.
Now, the work of the investigators of the assassination of Dorothy Stang is not difficult. Those, who assassinated her, announced it for quite sometime: the police only need to
speak to a half a dozen people, including well-known figures, such as the loan shark Regivaldo Galvao (Taradao), the land grabber Tinair, the businessmen Delio Fernandes and Dany Gutzeit, the plantation owner from Sao Paulo Paulo Medeiros Carvalho. They could also take a spin around the Rio Anapu Plantation, belonging to Yaoquim Petrola. Those who order the assassination of Dorothy, inclusive have their property registered in SUDAM. The Federal Public Ministry has included their names in a dozen processes with the Secretary for Social Defence. Innumerable institutions from civil society, including the Pastoral Land Commission, the Altamira Diocese, the GTA, Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, the OAB, etc.- have announced publicly the probability that what could have happened did. In this sense, the state and federal governments’ omissions are undeniably and obvious.
All that remains is the sad expectative that the death of Dorothy will help to open eyes to what are the implications of socio-environmental aggression in the heart of Amazonia, in order to avoid that public authorities will offer us declarations that define progress as the savage speculation run stimulated by the government’s irresponsibility in regions such as the ?Land in the Middle? or along roadway BR-163. The sad expectative is not only for those who already know it and do not want to conform with this scene; but also for everyone because, as Bertold Brecht warned, ?happy is the society that does not need heroes?.
(Fonte: Amazonia.org.br)
