Brazil Indians Again Block Cvrd Iron Ore Railway

Brazil Indians again block CVRD iron ore railway

by Reuters

14th February 2006

The mining company said the Indian action was aimed at the National Health Foundation, or FUNASA, which provides medical services for Indians. Brazilian Indians (Indigenous communities) on Tuesday blocked one of the world's No.1 iron ore miner's railways in north Brazil for the second time in a week, demanding better public health care, operator Companhia Vale do Rio Doce said.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, or CVRD, said in a statement that Indians led by the Guajajara tribe in the northeastern state of Maranhao blocked the Carajas line at kilometer 289 near the district of Alto Alegre do Pindare.

CVRD said a judge in Maranhao ordered the Indians, Tuesday nigh,t to immediately clear the railway line. He said, although everyone had the right to health care treatment, third parties also had the right to maintain freight and passenger services.

Last week, Indians blocked the same railway line which, carries iron ore and other minerals from CVRD's huge mines in Carajas in northern Brazil to a port at Sao Luis in Maranhao state, and held four CVRD employees hostage for two days. In November, Indians invaded a town near Carajas threatening to halt production, and in early December blocked an iron ore export railway line in central Minas Gerais state operated by CVRD.