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Brazil’s mining giant cancels aid to indigenous communities

By John Ahni Schertow

Brazil’s mining giant CVRD said on Tuesday that it would annul the Terms of Commitment concerning financial aid to the Xikrin and Djudjeko indigenous communities, following their invasion into the company’s iron-ore mining complex at Carajas in the northern Brazilian state of Para.

CVRD made the statement during a meeting with representatives of those communities, the National Indian Foundation (Funai) and the Federal Public Prosecutors Office in Brazil’s capital Brasilia.

CVRD said that the decision was made in accordance with existing contract cancellation clauses in the case of actions developed by the Indians aimed at the stoppage of the company’s activities.

On Oct. 17, members of those communities took over the mining giant’s operational units at the Carajas mining complex in the Amazon rainforest region, halting its industrial production.

CVRD, the world’s largest iron-ore producer, estimated that the invasion had stalled the shipment of about 650,000 tons of iron-ore, causing a loss of about 10 million U.S. dollars, apart from the damage done to the installations.

CVRD would file a lawsuit to gain compensation for the losses, and report the case to the Organization of American States (OAS).

From: english.people.com.cn