This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 000941 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/19/2014 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KCRM SOCI BR
SUBJECT: BRAZILIAN INDIANS KILL 29 PROSPECTORS 
 
REF: BRASILIA 0682 
 
Classified By: POLOFF RICHARD REITER, FOR REASONS 1.4B AND D. 
 
¶1. (C) SUMMARY.  On April 7, some 29 diamond prospectors 
working illegally on an Indian reservation in the western 
Brazilian state of Rondonia were slain by members of the 
Cinta-Larga tribe.  Three bodies were found on April 11 and 
another twenty-six on April 16.  Authorities now fear 
reprisals against Indians, some of whom have been assaulted 
in a nearby town.  The situation remains tense and a police 
investigation is underway.  Since reports of the massacre 
began to trickle in, conflicting stories have emerged about 
the motive for the killings.  Indian leaders and officials of 
the GoB's indian agency, FUNAI, say the Indians were 
defending their land against a long-running invasion by 
illegal miners.  But some police officials say that several 
Indian leaders are involved in diamond trafficking, and that 
the murders were a show of force against those who failed to 
give them their share.  In response to the massacre, the 
government plans another police sweep of the Rondonia 
reservation as well as a new law to facilitate legal 
concessions of mineral rights on Indian lands.  END SUMMARY. 
 
DOZENS DEAD ON ROOSEVELT RESERVATION 
------------------------------------ 
¶2. (SBU) On April 7, at least twenty-nine diamond prospectors 
were killed in the dense jungle of the western Brazilian 
state of Rondonia.  The massacre occurred on the Roosevelt 
Indian reservation (named for a nearby river that was first 
mapped by Theodore Roosevelt in 1914).  The reservation 
includes four areas comprising 2.7 million hectares (the size 
of Massachusetts) and is home to six Indian tribes, of which 
the 1,500-member Cinta-Larga ("Broad Sash") is the largest. 
Three corpses were found at one site on April 4.  On April 
16, authorities responding to reports from prospectors and 
led by local Indians found approximately 26 more bodies at a 
separate site.  The bodies were hacked to pieces and 
decomposed, making it difficult to assess how many were 
killed or to identify the dead.  Given the rugged terrain and 
the isolated nature of mining, more bodies may yet be 
discovered.  Gilton Muniz, of the Prospectors' Union, says 
another twelve prospectors remain missing, and state Governor 
Ivo Cassol told the press on April 17, "Unfortunately, many 
more bodies will be found." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Cinta-Larga leader Oita Matina announced that the 
attack was carried out by his tribe's warriors in response to 
an ongoing invasion by diamond hunters that began in 1999. 
Mercio Pereira, President of FUNAI ("National Indian 
Foundation" --the GoB's Indian agency) concurred, noting, "We 
are very sorry for those who died, but we must also say that 
the Indians are defending their lands.  The prospectors are 
completely illegal."  Pereira's statement exacerbated 
tensions between his agency and the state government, as 
Governor Cassol wondered rhetorically if Pereira would 
encourage landowners whose farms are occupied by the Landless 
Movement (MST) to respond with violence. 
 
DIAMOND TRADE FUELS VIOLENCE 
---------------------------- 
¶4. (C) The discovery of South America's richest diamond 
deposits (estimated at US$2 billion) on the Roosevelt 
reservation ignited a rush of prospectors to the area in 
¶1999.  By law, commercial mining on Indian lands is 
prohibited, unless specifically authorized by Congress. 
FUNAI's Pereira says that his agency, along with the Federal 
Police, have conducted four sweeps to remove illegal 
prospectors from the reservation, including one in January 
when 4,500 prospectors were removed, but many later returned. 
 The lawless nature of the region and the huge sums at stake 
have fed a culture of violence:  the Civil Police chief in 
the nearby town of Espigao do Oeste says that from 1999 to 
2003, at least thirty prospectors' bodies were found on the 
Roosevelt reservation, though it is not clear how many died 
in conflicts with Indians or with other prospectors.  In 
November 2003, four prospectors were killed in one incident, 
and an injured survivor charged that a FUNAI official, whom 
he alleged was involved in diamond trafficking, was among the 
assailants.  FUNAI President Pereira insisted to us that the 
charges were investigated and found baseless. 
SOME INDIAN LEADERS MAY BE DIAMOND SMUGGLERS 
-------------------------------------------- 
¶5. (SBU) In a recent interview, regional Federal Police 
commander Marco Aurelio Moura said his office has refocused 
its efforts away from the Roosevelt reservation, "We don't 
have enough people to interfere with the prospectors' 
activities, and now we have information that the Indians 
themselves are involved in diamond trafficking, so we have 
changed our strategy to investigate those who buy the gems." 
By going after smugglers rather than prospectors, the Federal 
Police have made 30 arrests in Rondonia this year, including 
of Marcos Glika, reportedly one of Brazil's most important 
gem traffickers.  Press reporting dating to 2001 describes 
how some tribal leaders suddenly became rich while most of 
the tribe lived in misery, and also alleged that some FUNAI 
officials may be implicated in the diamond trade. 
 
¶6. (C) These reports, which the Federal Police's National 
Coordinator for Special Border Operations, Mauro Sposito, 
told us were generally accurate, indicate that soon after the 
diamond rush began in 1999, some Cinta-Larga began charging 
fees to the prospectors: a reported R$10,000 (about US$3,300) 
per head plus up to 50% of profits.  This suggests that the 
April 7 massacre was more complicated than the initial 
reporting indicated.  As thousands of prospectors surged into 
the area --and formed unions that pressured the government 
for commercial rights-- the Indians began to lose control of 
their profit-sharing system.  Some Federal Police have told 
the press that there is no broad conflict between the 
Cinta-Larga and the prospectors, but that the killings are a 
"settling of scores": killing those who failed to pay their 
fees. 
 
SITUATION: "A POWDER KEG" 
------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) The massacre has left the region a "powder keg", 
according to Federal Police commander Moura.  As reports 
brought by prospectors trickled in, Indians in the area have 
been assaulted by furious townspeople and miners.  One Indian 
was terrorized by 300 people on the central square of the 
town of Espigao do Oeste, only to be freed after hours of 
negotiations by local officials.  Military Police commander 
Firmino Aparecido told the press that most of the 100 
Cinta-Larga who live in the town have now fled.  Prospectors' 
Union leader Muniz says that the climate is tense, "The 
prospectors are upset and want to react.  The prospectors 
were surprised by the Indians, who showed up shooting.  We 
just want to work and have the right to extract the 
minerals".  Muniz estimates there are 7,000 prospectors in 
Rondonia, about 1,000 of whom are on the Roosevelt 
reservation. 
 
STATE OF THE INVESTIGATION 
-------------------------- 
¶8. (C) Federal Police Coordinator Sposito told us on April 18 
that the remains were still being removed by helicopter to 
the state capital of Porto Velho for autopsies and 
identification and that the operation could take a few more 
days.  Fifty Federal Police agents, together with FUNAI 
officials, are investigating the massacre.  Sposito noted 
that while the Cinta-Larga tribe has taken responsibility, 
the investigation will look for the individuals involved 
--and that the police have a "good idea" who they were. 
FUNAI President Mercio Pereira told us he was alarmed that 
the government was pointing the finger at the Cinta-Larga and 
looking for an easy scapegoat.  In the meantime, federal 
officials are planning another operation to remove 
prospectors still on the reservation, and uniformed police 
are on alert to prevent an escalation of violence. 
 
COMMENT - SLOW PROGRESS ON INDIAN AFFAIRS 
----------------------------------------- 
¶9. (C) In the short-run, the GoB response to the Rondonia 
massacre consists of the police investigation, followed by 
what Justice Minister Bastos announced on April 18 will be an 
operation of "general disarmament" to try to discourage 
further bloodshed.  200 Federal Police and FUNAI officers 
will initiate the operation as soon as they have finished 
recovering the remains of the 26 murdered prospectors.  This 
operation may be lashed together with the previously 
scheduled "Operation Rondonia" (reftel).  Medium-term, the 
government is drafting a law to regulate mineral rights on 
reservations in order to provide Indians with legal means to 
extract and sell diamonds without resorting to the black 
market.  FUNAI President Pereira told us the bill is now in 
an inter-ministerial committee, and he hopes it will go to 
Congress before the July recess.  Further, the Ministry of 
Mines and Energy is studying the possibility of making 
available to prospectors some mining concessions located 
outside of the reservation. 
 
¶10. (C) Longer term, the Lula government has been slow to 
take the initiative on indigenous issues.  It has not put 
forward a comprehensive national plan and is trying to 
resolve several simultaneous disputes, most of which concern 
demarcation of new reservations.  Last week President Lula 
presided over a contentious cabinet meeting to debate the 
long-running case of the Raposa Serra do Sul reservation in 
the northern state of Roraima (septel) that still awaits 
demarcation; a decision was put off until April 27. 
HRINAK