ALC NEWS SERVICE E-mail: director@alcnoticias.org
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CONTENT
ARGENTINA: Indigenous people from the Chaco Region report invasion of major corporations PERÚ: Pastor Lay denounces changes in numbers in the official count against his party BRAZIL: Luther was a precursor of the theories of communication, said professor CHILE: Bachelet prepares Religious Affairs office she promised in her campaign URUGUAY: Christian Argentines and Uruguayans ask for dialogue to resolve conflict over cellulose plants.
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ARGENTINA
Indigenous people from the Chaco Region report invasion of major corporations
BUENOS AIRES, April 21 (ALC). Indigenous people from the Chaco Region, shared by Argentina, Paraguay and Bolivia reported a new, intense invasion of their lands by major corporations and charged that their governments do nothing to stop it.
For this, they demanded that their lands be regulated and that they be given definitive land titles, that their culture and dignity be respected and that national laws be effectively applied that recognize their territorial rights and that the three governments "detain the major business corporations that product contamination and ecological disaster."
Indigenous people from the Chaco said that they have become intruders on their own lands and that many communities have been evicted and are living on the peripheries and that the situation is unsustainable.
Some 50 indigenous leaders from communities in northern Argentina and southern Bolivia and Paraguay including the Wichí, Toba Gom, Moqoit, Pilagá, Guaraní, Ava guaraní, Sanapaná and Enxet sur, are lobbying presidents from the three nations to meet their demands.
The indigenous leaders met April 19 - 20 in the Evangelical Theological Studies Institute (ISEDET) and in Caritas in Buenos Aires, with the support of the Church World Service. They were accompanied by representatives from the National Aboriginal Pastoral Team (ENDEPA), the United Missions Board (JUM) and Development in Justice and peace Foundation (FUNDAPAZ) of Argentina. There were also leaders from the Regional Studies Center of Tarija (CER - DET) of Bolivia and the Church Committee for Emergency Aid (CIPAE) of Paraguay.
The region, according to the indigenous leaders, has been the object of an economic model that "plunders and exploits natural resources, with an extractive character" and which has permitted the application of inappropriate production techniques for the ecosystem "without considering the practices that indigenous people have to manage and take advantage of natural resources."
They accused the governments of tricking them with promises of titles that "never were delivered" while their lands continue to be sold to major corporations and they "threaten to evict us."
"Our rights are being forgotten, overlooked, ignored, and violated by governments and individuals. Our cultures are being submitted, discriminated and excluded. Our communities and territories continue to be tyrannized, ransacked and destroyed by major companies that invest a great deal of money and take much more," said the declaration.
The indigenous people revealed that private companies in the region dedicated to soy and sugar "burn our forests, the mills take the wood and the oil companies take the oil and gas."
The environmental disaster in the region, described by the indigenous people, includes oil contamination, contamination because of agro-chemical substances sprayed from planes and mining waste. "The rivers no longer have fish and they are overflowing due to the waste, provoking major floods like those in Tartagal and other regions of the Chaco," they said.
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PERÚ
Pastor Lay denounces changes in numbers in the official count against his party
LIMA, Abr. 20 (ALC). Evangelical Pastor Humberto Lay, leader of National Restoration, a party that won a surprising sixth place in the April 9 general elections said that his party runs the risk of not having representatives in Congress because of a supposed change in the numbers in the official count.
Lay said that the modifications are taking place at a data entry level in the National Electoral Processes Office (ONPE) and said that this was particularly true in Callao and in other zones.
"We have been informed of things that really worry us, like there was a change in ONPE personnel in particular in Callao and after this change, there were changes in the figures (.) this worries us, we are investigating the issue and look for proof," he told one local radio station.
Lay obtained 4.37 percent in the presidential election but his parliamentary list has not yet surpassed the necessary 4.0% and does not have five representatives in at least two electoral areas. NT is struggling vote by vote with ruling party Peru Posible to have representation in Congress.
Lay complained because in a very short time he went from being in a "very good position" in the vote for Congress to running the risk of not having any representation. He said he had received reports from voting in Callao and Loreto "where we were also in a good position and suddenly, in two hours, the results benefited another group."
He also announced that his party hopes to talk with candidates who will compete in the second round of voting after no candidate won a majority in the April 9 election. National candidate Ollanta Humala came in first place and is assured of a spot in the second round while former congresswoman Lourdes Flores and former president Alan Garcia are neck and neck in the race for the second spot.
In the face of versions from nationalist Humala, who accuses conservative sectors and the press of conforming a political front against him, Lay said it was not interested in joining a block for that purpose and that he had no problem dialoging with Humala.
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BRAZIL
Luther was a precursor of the theories of communication, said professor
VITÓRIA, April 20 (ALC). A tireless defendant of the study of languages, promoter of education and builder of universities and libraries, Protestant reformer Martin Luther could be considered a precursor of the theories of communication, in a period when people still believed that the earth was flat.
The thesis was presented by journalist and professor of the Lutheran University of Brazil (ULBRA), Astomiro Romais, in a conference about "Luther and Theories of Communication" at the 59th National Convention of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Brazil (IELB), meeting in Guarapari, in the metropolitan region of Vitoria, state of Espiritu Santo, from April 19 - 23.
"Luther knew, as only a few did, to make use of the communicational techniques of his time and understood communication in its most modern concept, that of active audiences," affirmed Romais.
In his sermons, he prioritized the person receiving the messages, believing that the most complete sense of the sermon was not in the words, but in the people themselves.
When he nailed his 95 thesis to the door of the Church on the Wittenberg castle, on October 31, 1517, Luther inaugurated the first publicity campaign in history using pamphlets and printed posters. "Some were in agreement with his positions, others were violently opposed but no one who read them or heard them ignored them or was indifferent to them," underlined the journalism professor.
A Bachelor in Theology and Arts, Romais emphasized the unexpected repercussions of Luther's thesis in diverse sectors of society, something that Luther considered a "miracle." Following the principles of good journalism, he took into account criteria like interest, actuality, proximity and relevance, he said.
In order to take God's message to the common man, Luther demonstrated his communication skills when he translated the Bible into language used by the German people. He went to the streets, he listened to people, he interviewed mothers, children and found the most comprehensible way to transmit the Biblical message to both the worker and the erudite.
If Lutheran lived today, and taking into account his perception that communication is life and life is communication "he would certainly write columns in major dailies and edit emails about daily life, health services, agrarian reform, education, violence, social crisis and above all the Love of God revealed in Jesus Christ," said Romais.
The 59th IELB National Convention was April 19 with a worship service. The Pastor president of the Church Carlos Winterle, emphasized the importance of the Christian witness in the world, because people see the way to salvation in the attitudes and words of believers.
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CHILE
Bachelet prepares Religious Affairs office she promised in her campaign
SANTIAGO, Abr. 19 (ALC). In an historic event, the government of President Michelle Bachelet is preparing to create a Religious Affaire office dedicated to the relationship between the different creeds and the Executive, something she promised in her electoral campaign.
According to journalist Rocio Montes of the daily El Mercurio, the theme is of particular interest for the president as she stated in her government program. "The document never peaks of one single Church, does not give supremacy to the Roman Catholic Church but always refers to Churches," she said.
The Religious Affairs Office, which will be designed once the 36 measures of the first 100 days of government are complete, promises an "equalizing" affect among the different religions, said Montes and will be a type of "single window" for diverse religious sectors to access La Moneda.
This fact, said the author, in line with some sectors of the government could generate a certain impact in Catholic sensitivity, as took place with the Freedom of Worship Law in 1999, that sparked a protest from the hierarchy.
The institutionalism that the Bachelet government will create could narrow the existing distance between the Catholic Church and minority religious groups in Chile, said Montes.
The relationship between President Bachelet and the Evangelical Church is not new, it dates back to when she was Minister of health and then defense. She maintained contact with the Evangelicals throughout her campaign and has always been aware that more than 1.6 million Chileans profess this creed.
The Bishop of the Pentecostal Apostolic Church and coordinator of the Committee of Evangelical Organizations Francisco Anabalon said that each time he has met with Bachelet he asks if he can pray. "She accepts and silently listens to the prayers."
Unlike former President Ricardo Lagos, Bachelet is not baptized. She comes from a lay family.
For this reasons, Bachelet has not imposed complex goals from a values point of view. "With only a four year government she has decided she could not get tangled in issues that could, for example, complicate her relationship with the Catholic Church," said an advisor from the government palace.
This fact was demonstrated this week when the government announced it would not insist in re-imposing the veto on the Cloning and Human Genome Law, currently in senate and which threatens to shadow its relationship with Christian Democracy.
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URUGUAY
Christian Argentines and Uruguayans ask for dialogue to resolve conflict over cellulose plants.
MONTEVIDEO, Abr. 17 (ALC). The need to prioritize dialogue and truthful information was agreed upon by diverse Christian Churches in Uruguay and Argentina, in the face of the conflict over the installation of cellulose pulp plants by multinationals Ence and Botnia, on the border zone of Fray Bentos.
Last March 11, the governments of Argentina and Uruguay agreed to paralyze the work on the cellulose plants for 90 days to begin a dialogue that would resolve the conflict. This announcement led protestors to lift roadblocks that neighbors from Gualeguaychú (Argentina) had maintained for 40 days cutting off the road to trucks that took material to the plants.
However, without the Argentina-Uruguayan conflict being resolved on Monday the leader of the construction union and worker at the Fray Bentos Plant Fabian Gadea said "this Tuesday all of use who were working will be reintegrated without any problem, at least to date."
On Wednesday April 12 Churches sent a letter to governments from both countries and members of Southern Cone Common Market countries expressing their concern about the conflict due to the contamination that will be generated by the cellulose factories located on the Uruguay River and those installed on the Parana, both in the Plate Basin.
The document was signed by Juan Gattinoni, of the Latin American Council of Churches (CLAI-River Plate ), The Evangelical Church of the River Plate (IERP), The Argentine Evangelical Methodist Church (IEMA), the Methodist Church of Uruguay (IMU), Roman Catholic Apostolic Church (ICAR), Disciples of Christ Church (IDC),Evangelical Waldesian Church (IEV), Anglican Church of Uruguay (IAU) and the Christian Biblical Church (ICB).
The Christian leaders said that the contamination produced by this industry is added to the serious impact of the mono-crop of pine and eucalyptus trees in the zone.
They recommended that the necessary measures be taken to protect the Plate basin and that a regional legal framework be generated that will guarantee the sustainable development in MERCOSUR that includes Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Paraguay.
Until the legal tools are in place that guarantee the sustainable development of the region, Churches propose that a commission be named in the framework of MERCOSUR, made up of qualified people who are sensitive to local needs that monitor investment policies and their environmental impact.
They also demand that presidents Néstor Kirchner, of Argentina and Tabaré Vásquez, of Uruguay, to continue seeking a solution to the conflict.
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