By Ana Mano
SAO PAULO, Feb 9 (Reuters) – A branch of Brazil’s federal public prosecutors’ office has denounced the potential use of force to remove Indigenous protesters from the vicinities of a Cargill port terminal in the Amazon, according to a statement late last week.
Indigenous groups have been protesting at the company’s Santarem terminal gate since January 22 against a project to dredge the Tapajos river, where traders rely on barges to move grains for export via northern ports.
The prosecutors called for the immediate revocation of an order issued by the State Commission for Public Security in Ports, authorizing the deployment of police troops to the location.
The prosecutors in Para state said a police presence could injure the Indigenous people, adding the use of force would contradict a court decision stemming from a lawsuit filed by Cargill.
In that suit, said prosecutors, a federal court rejected the company’s request to clear the area and ordered peaceful talks.
“Any intervention by police force requires a prior court order,” said the prosecutors’ statement, quoting the ruling.
Cargill did not have an immediate comment.
In a statement on Friday, the federal government said dredging is routine to ensure river traffic during low water level periods. Still, the government suspended procurement of companies to carry out the work on the Tapajos pending talks with the Indigenous communities and a formal consultation about any work on the river.
Last week, Cargill confirmed protesters were blocking truck traffic at the terminal gate, without elaborating.
Cargill shipped more than 5.5 million tons of soybeans and corn through Santarem last year, according to port sector data. The exported volume, originating mainly from the Center West, represented more than 70% of the total grain volume handled at Santarem.
(Reporting by Ana Mano and additional reporting by Roberto Samora; Editing by Nia Williams)
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