Release #037 {2901} April 23, 1996
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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