Act with archbishop of the Amazon denounces river pollution and calls for justice in Brazil

By Jefferson Ramos – From Cenarium

MANAUS (AM) – On the September 5th holiday, which marks the elevation of Amazonas to the category of province, the 31st edition of the “Cry of the Excluded” mobilized several social movements through the streets of the Novo Aleixo neighborhood, North Zone of Manaus, under the motto “Life First: Caring for the Common Home and for Democracy is a Daily Struggle.”

Social movements such as the AIDS, Youth, and Migrant pastoral ministries, in addition to the Union of Teachers and Pedagogues of Manaus (Asprom Union), the Water Forum, and the Small Farmers Movement (MPA) called for the end of the 6×1 work schedule, the depollution of the city’s streams, the defense of national sovereignty against external pressures, and punishment for those involved in the coup attempt being judged by the Supreme Federal Court (STF).

Organized by the Archdiocese of Manaus, the march was led by a sound truck where members of social movements took turns and shouted slogans in favor of citizenship and social justice. Participants carried banners through the crowd against the increase in the minimum retirement age for municipal public service.

“Mayor David Almeida wants civil servants to ‘die’ working without retiring! It was David Almeida and the Manausprev reform,” protested the union.

The Popular Movements Central (CMP) carried a poster against the National Congress’s move to approve amnesty for former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and those convicted for January 8.

Relatives of Indigenous and riverside victims of the Abacaxis River massacre, between the municipalities of Borba (AM) and Nova Olinda do Norte (AM), 1,028 and 135 kilometers from Manaus, respectively, perpetrated in 2020 by state public security agents, read a manifesto demanding more agility from the Federal Court.

According to the manifesto read by the Pastoral Land Commission, after the complaints filed by the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) were accepted by the Judiciary, the case is currently stalled after the defense of the former State Secretary of Public Security challenged, through a habeas corpus, the jurisdiction of the 2nd Court of the Federal Court of Amazonas to judge it.

Speaking to CENARIUM , the archbishop of Manaus and cardinal of the Amazon, Dom Leonardo Steiner, stated that in the 31 years of the “Cry of the Excluded” the organized civil society has managed to draw attention to misguided decisions taken by the National Congress.

“Sometimes we have the impression that we have not advanced, but we have advanced because we have managed to preserve democracy, we have managed to discuss public policies, we have managed to alert the National Congress to several attitudes taken. If society does not move, the National Congress does what it wants and we end up losing democracy. The Cry of the Excluded is this possibility of being present and showing what we want for Brazil. We will persevere because we are people of hope and, for this reason, we believe in the power of the Gospel to transform and to build a more just and fraternal society,” declared Dom Leonardo.

Edited by Jadson Lima
Translated from Portuguese by Gustô Alves