wfn.org | Concern for Brazil

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (2900 notes).

Note 2899 by SUSAN PEEK on April 23, 1996 at 19:58 Eastern (2385 characters).

SEARCH: Brazil, landless, reform, United Methodist, General
Conference

037  {2901}                                         April 23, 1996

General Conference '96

General Conference delegates 
express concern for Brazil

     
     DENVER (UMNS) -- Delegates to the 1996 General Conference of
the United Methodist Church voiced concern about the condition of
their brothers and sisters in Brazil as a result of overt actions
by the military police.
     
     Adriel de Souza Maia, Bishop of the Methodist Church in
Brazil, speaking through an interpreter, told delegates that on
April 18, families of the "landless movement" were fired on by 200
military policemen. 

     He said 1,200 people had come to El Dorado du Guarages, in
the state of Para, Brazil, to demand a meeting with
representatives from the government office of land reform. Their
demonstration resulted in 21 men being killed, 35 wounded and more
than 100 disappeared, among them women and children.
     
     According to the Rev. Auturo Fernandez, a delegate from
Salem, Ore., widespread poverty and human suffering are endured by
millions of people in Brazil, Latin America and the Caribbean. He
said the people killed by the military were "violently sacrificed
to satisfy insatiable appetites of the wealthy and powerful."
     
     In light of these facts, General Conference delegates voted
April 22 to send a letter to Brazil's president, minister of the
House of Justice and the president of the national conference
requesting: 
     
     * government verification of the facts and timely prosecution
of those responsible for the "massacre;"     
     * prohibition on the use of arms and against all forms of
violence by the government against the "landless" people of
Brazil;
     * a celebration of the process of land reform in Brazil.
     
     Copies of the letter also will be sent to President Clinton,
U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher, the United States
Ambassador to Brazil and the Brazilian Ambassador to the United
States.
     
     The United Methodist Board of Church and Society was asked to
organize a delegation to convey the conference action to the
assistant secretary of state for Latin American Affairs at the
U.S. State Department. 
                               # # #
                                                    -- Linda Green
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