The murder of Galdino Jesus dos Santos, a Pataxó hã-hã-hãe Indian, who turns 25 this Wednesday (20), is today seen as a watershed, albeit tragic, for the indigenous movement.
Galdino was in Brasília as part of an indigenous delegation to claim land. In particular, the possession of five farms in his region, which had already been demarcated, but from which the owners refused to leave.
He was sleeping at a bus stop when five men (three of them from the same family) set his body on fire. He was taken to a hospital still alive, but died a day later.
The episode was followed by a series of acts, with the support of social movements, in the federal capital. The case was widely covered by the national media and had international repercussions. The indigenous community mobilized.
“We wanted, at that moment, to finish what he went to Brasília determined to do”, recalls the then chief and Galdino’s cousin, Wilson, known as Ninho. “It’s a memory that stays in our head for the rest of the family’s life and also the community.”
Following the episode, the village occupied the five farms and managed to regain possession of the 788 hectares of land. “He arrived in the coffin. For us it was an honor to have fulfilled his mission”, he adds.
“We call this movement the ‘reconquest of our land’. We managed to take over the five farms and later advanced further; in all the occupations we carried out after his death, we managed to resist”, says Fabio Titiah, Pataxó leader hã-hã-hãe and vice-chief of the village.
The trial in the case took place in 2001, four and a half years after the murder. The attackers said that “it was supposed to be a joke” and just wanted to “scare” the man who was sleeping on the bench at a bus stop. According to investigations, they bought two liters of alcohol at a gas station minutes before committing the crime.
A popular jury sentenced the four adults involved —Max Rogério Alves, Antônio Novely Vilanova, Eron Chaves de Oliveira and Tomás Oliveira de Almeida— to 14 years in prison in a closed regime for murder (with intent) triple qualified.
In 2002, the Federal District Court of Justice gave them the right to exercise administrative functions in public bodies during the day. They were also allowed to study at universities outside the jail. In 2004, they were granted parole.
Then a minor at the time of the crime, Gutemberg Nader de Almeida Júnior served a socio-educational measure and was released in 1997.
wanted by Sheet, Max Alves and Gutemberg Júnior were not found. The others declined to comment. Alves, currently 44 years old, is a judicial analyst at the Federal District Court of Justice, with a gross salary of R$16,000. Before, he practiced the profession of lawyer.
Antonio Vilanova, 44, is a physical therapist at the Health Department of the Federal District. He has gross pay in excess of R$15,000. Eron Chaves Oliveira, 44, is a traffic agent in the federal capital, and receives about R$14,000 in total salary, according to the latest paycheck released by the district government.
Tomás de Almeida, 43, is an effective member of the Senate. He joined as a legislative technician in 2012. According to the House’s Transparency Portal, he has a basic salary of R$22,300.
Tomás’ brother, Gutemberg Júnior, 41, has been a federal highway police officer since 2016. Before, he was approved in a Civil Police competition of the Federal District, but was vetoed in the investigation stage of his previous life. The report spoke to his mother, who declined to provide her contact details.
Galdino’s death is a milestone for the indigenous movement
Galdino was killed on an April 20. Last Tuesday, April 19, his village took advantage of the Day of the Indian not only to remember his memory, with lectures telling his story to the younger ones, but also to “celebrate and reflect”, as the former chief Ninho proposes.
40 years ago, in 1982, Funai (Fundação Nacional do Índio) filed a civil suit that ended up, in a decision of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) of 2012, by annulling the property titles of the Pataxós region hã-hã-hãe in the south of Bahia —in practice, the act took effect and gave legal security to the lands demarcated for the group.
It was also the year in which the village reconquered the first thousand hectares of this territory.
For Roberto Liebgott, assistant secretary of Cimi (Indigenist Missionary Council) in 1997, Galdino’s death was a milestone. From the social point of view —due to the repercussion and social adhesion to the cause at the time— and from the legal point of view.
“The Federal Constitution dates from 1988, so the understanding of the set of indigenous rights was recent at the time. The case brings an important mobilization of the Judiciary around this”, he says.
What there is, complete, is a change in the attitude of the Brazilian State. “It is who has the constitutional obligation to enforce indigenous rights, but there is a permanent omission and negligence and, in recent years, even a violent persecution and affront to indigenous territories, through systematic invasions.”
Ninho remembers the other relatives —as the indigenous people call other indigenous people— that he has seen fall since he became engaged in activism for the land. Including Galdino’s brother, João Cravinho, killed in a farmer’s ambush in 1988.
“We reflect on the losses we had and the victories won with a lot of bloodshed. We consider this a resistance. All because of our land, our territory.”
