Post by Cecilia Sbernini
On Saturday the 16th we decided to spend the day at the People's Summit; as soon as we got there we were attracted by a particularly crowded event, where everyone stood silent and attentively assisted in the panel talks.
The Xavante People of the Marãiwatsédé land in the state of Mato
Grosso were telling their story, a particularly sad story of stolen
lands, lies, forced relocation and death. Despite the recent judicial
verdicts that should guarantee the Xavante their original land, the
cacique Damião Paridzané, expressed his doubts over the implementation
of such verdicts. In a very emotional statement he expressed his anger
and tiredness in dealing with false promises. He asked for guarantees,
and for strong commitments from State representatives and FUNAI
representatives that his people would return, unharmed to their original
land. The Xavante of Marãiwatsédé (but not exclusively) are being held
hostage in a tiny stretch of land by gunmen hired by large landholders.
Without a strong commitment from the government of Brazil their chances
of returning to their original way of life are very slim.
Recurrent questions were asked at various events throughout the Peoples Summit today, such as, "Is Brazil portraying itself as a
good example as the host of Rio+20 conference?" "Are the people truly
represented by the politicians speaking and voting on behalf of them?" These same
question were asked and answered during another event of the day that
we attended. A discussion about the controversial "forest code" that has
recently been approved by the Brazilian congress. Among the panelist was
Marina Silva, a well known advocate of environmental protection. Here
people didn't sit silent, on the contrary, they sang, whistled and
jumped to express their anger at the approval of the forest code and expressed how dissatisfied they are with huge gap this new law is creating between the People's will and the Congress's actions.
We came out of the events slightly emotional but energized by the speeches and stories we heard. Being at the People's summit felt like cruising in a brainstorming multicultural forum, a place where ideas converge and clash to form new and stronger thoughts and plans of action.
On Saturday the 16th we decided to spend the day at the People's Summit; as soon as we got there we were attracted by a particularly crowded event, where everyone stood silent and attentively assisted in the panel talks.
The Xavante People of the Marãiwatsédé land in the state of Mato
Grosso were telling their story, a particularly sad story of stolen
lands, lies, forced relocation and death. Despite the recent judicial
verdicts that should guarantee the Xavante their original land, the
cacique Damião Paridzané, expressed his doubts over the implementation
of such verdicts. In a very emotional statement he expressed his anger
and tiredness in dealing with false promises. He asked for guarantees,
and for strong commitments from State representatives and FUNAI
representatives that his people would return, unharmed to their original
land. The Xavante of Marãiwatsédé (but not exclusively) are being held
hostage in a tiny stretch of land by gunmen hired by large landholders.
Without a strong commitment from the government of Brazil their chances
of returning to their original way of life are very slim. 
We came out of the events slightly emotional but energized by the speeches and stories we heard. Being at the People's summit felt like cruising in a brainstorming multicultural forum, a place where ideas converge and clash to form new and stronger thoughts and plans of action.
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