www.agriculture.com

BRASILIA, Brazil, March 6 (Reuters) - Brazil's new government on Thursday confirmed genetically modified plantings of key crops like soy were illegal but said it would seek legal ways to market what has been planted so far.

"The government considers that, as a result of a control fault by the previous government, there have been plantings of transgenic soy, which represents an illegality," President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's spokesman Andre Singer told reporters.

But Singer, who spoke after a government meeting to discuss the issue, said the agriculture sector was facing a social and economic problem with tens of thousands of farmers depending on this year's harvest, part of which is transgenic.

He did not say whether the plan was to sell existing genetically modified crops at home or abroad. Brazil is the world's No. 2 soybean producer and exporter. The decision should at least partly satisfy producers.

Brazil is the last major soybean exporter to still ban GM crops but it has been finding it increasingly difficult to maintain GM-free status as farmers opted in growing numbers for more profitable genetically modified soybeans.

Meanwhile, environmental and consumer groups have been resisting any moves to allow the sale of transgenic products, citing safety concerns.

Harvesting is already well under way in Mato Grosso and Parana, the two main soy producing states, and will soon start in No. 3 Rio Grande do Sul.

Market sources say up to 80 percent of the crop is planted with transgenic beans, although Agriculture Minister Roberto Rodrigues has said recently the state had only eight percent of the transgenic crop.

cc Reuters 03/07/2003 05:36 a.m.CDT

www.hindustantimes.com AP Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, March 7 In a colourful samba rendition of a classical biblical tale, a robe-clad Moses levitated atop a huge Carnival float, giving a dose of mystical magic to the finale of Brazil's famed pre-Lenten bash. An estimated 70,000 people watched as the Mangueira samba group paraded around a gilded 260-foot-long (87-meter) Pharaoh's palace with slaves wearing no more than G-strings and glitter, just enough to avoid breaking a rule against total nudity. The Mangueira theme of the Ten Commandments and its mandate against killing struck a responsive chord with the revellers who packed the city's renowned Sambadrome, singing along as the group passed the grandstands. More than 400,000 people flocked to Rio for Carnival amid unprecedented security after gang violence terrorized the city last week. "He who sows peace, reaps love," sang veteran samba crooner Jamelao, as Mangueira's 4,000 dancers and 300-member drum corps shimmied down Sambadrome's 700-yard (640-meter) parade runway. Nearby, thousands of soldiers with rifles and flak jackets stood guard near Rio's shantytowns and tourist destinations in an unprecedented show of force following five days of mayhem by drug gangs last week. Gang members apparently upset about the transfer of a notorious drug lord out of a Rio prison burned 48 cars and buses, sprayed supermarkets and police posts with gunfire and tossed six small bombs at apartment buildings. In the wake of the violence, about 40,000 police and soldiers one for every 10 Carnival visitors were deployed across Rio de Janeiro state to keep the peace. Scattered violence continued this week, with the killings of eight people in greater Rio on Monday, including two police officers, authorities said. Details were sketchy, but police said many of the incidents were routine and did nothing to upset the celebrations. Most occurred in areas far from the areas where the major Carnival events take place. The Sambadrome parades ended at dawn Tuesday with a closing march by the Imperatriz Leopoldinense group, the last of 14 that strutted their stuff before a team of judges. The samba groups are rated on their music, percussion, costumes, floats and enthusiasm. The winner will be announced Wednesday. Foreigners like Anna Michielotto were amazed at the elaborate choreography each samba group used to score points. "It's not like in Venice," said the 39-year-old museum director from Italy. "You have to participate. I'm coming back next year to parade." The threat of violence didn't stem the flood of visitors to Rio, and the state tourism board TurisRio said virtually all hotel rooms were booked. While visitors were aware of the gang violence, it didn't appear interfere with their partying. "Carnival is just great," said Teresa Golineleo, visiting Rio from the far southern Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. "If there was violence, we didn't see any. All the street parties were beautiful. It's just a great time." As the parades ended, the merriment turned to "blocos" small neighbourhood groups or bands with members wearing improvised costumes as they march through the streets. The blocos are widely considered the most authentic symbol of Carnival. Among the neighbourhood groups parading was the Banda de Ipanema, the city's most traditional Carnival street band. It draws crowds of drag queens and transvestites in outrageously overdone makeup, huge platform shoes and tiny miniskirts, dancing through the posh beachside zone of Ipanema to the sassy beat of trumpets and trombones. In the northeastern city of Salvador, which rivals Rio for the title of Brazil's best Carnival, thousands of revellers jammed streets behind the ear-splitting sound trucks known as electric trios. The more privileged like Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen rode up top, where she sang along with pop star Daniela Mercury. By contrast, Carnival was muted in Brasilia, the nation's capital. With government offices shut, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declined offers to party and took time to rest. Carnival officially ends on Ash Wednesday, when some stores, banks and government offices begin to reopen and this predominantly Roman Catholic country slowly returns to work. But Rio's Carnival champions will parade again on Saturday, giving the winners and their fans a good excuse to extend the party through the weekend.

www.sfgate.com STAN LEHMAN, Associated Press Writer Thursday, March 6, 2003
(03-06) 19:26 PST SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) --

A wave of invasions of farms and government offices in recent days has abruptly ended a truce between landless farmworkers and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, their longtime defender.

Since Saturday, farmworkers have occupied public and private property in five Brazilian states, loudly resuming their favored tactic to pressure the government to speed up agrarian reform.

"We have waited long enough for the new government to take concrete action in favor of agrarian reform," Joao Paulo Rodrigues, a leader of the of the Landless Rural Workers Movement, or MST, said by phone Thursday. "The wait-and-see period is coming to an end."

The latest invasions are simply a dress rehearsal for a series of nationwide of protests in April, Rodrigues said.

It's an ironic twist for Silva, a former union boss who took office Jan. 1 as Brazil's first left-wing president in 40 years. His Workers Party has long championed land reform and the farmworkers' movement.

Land distribution in Brazil is among the most uneven in the world. Some 90 percent of the land is owned by just 20 percent of the people, while the poorest 40 percent of the population holds just 1 percent.

During his campaign, Silva, better known as Lula, wooed conservative ranchers and landowners by claiming that only he could control the MST. For months, the movement refrained from occupying land.

The peace ended Saturday, when some 1,000 landless farmers occupied a ranch 80 miles west of Sao Paulo.

The invasion was intended "to show Lula there's an unresolved issue he must deal with," said Maria Rodrigues, who coordinated the occupation.

The invasion was peaceful, but ranch owners quickly obtained an eviction order. MST leaders said they would leave the ranch only if the government finds another area to settle the squatters.

On Tuesday, two other properties were occupied in two southern states. On Wednesday, farmworkers took over the offices of the government's Agrarian Reform Institute in two midwestern cities.

Presidential Chief of Staff Jose Dirceu, a former radical who was jailed and exiled by a previous military regime, urged protesters to "respect the limits of democracy."

Silva has not forgotten land reform, the Agrarian Development Ministry said. In January, the government expropriated 500,000 acres of unproductive land for redistribution to landless farmers, the ministry said.

www.brazzil.com

Colombia wants Brazil to classify the FARC as a terrorist group, freeze its bank accounts in Brazil and detain any of its members or supporters in Brazilian territory. In a recent meeting between the two governments, though, this topic was not even raised.

John Fitzpatrick

None of Brazil's neighbours has suffered as much as Colombia, which has experienced a savage guerrilla war for more than 30 years. This war has cost thousands of lives and has involved a variety of left-wing guerrillas groups, right-wing paramilitaries and the security forces of the Colombian state. Countless peace talks have been held, but the main guerrilla group, called the FARC, has never abided by agreements and continued with its campaigns, killing civilian and soldiers, Colombians and foreigners alike. The FARC is estimated to have around 30,000 armed men and occupies a huge part of the country ceded to it by the previous government. It routinely kidnaps people and has recently extended its operations into the cities with deadly effect.

Most of its operations are funded by the drugs trade, which inflicts misery on the lives of millions, including Brazilians. It should be recalled that Brazil's most infamous criminal, known as Beira Mar, was extradited from Colombia, where he spent much time, to Brazil. Drug gang lords in Brazil are becoming as daring as the Colombian guerrillas and their writ is law in their fiefs. Not only do they terrorize the favela shanty towns, where they are based, but they have also shown they can bring business in large parts of Rio de Janeiro to a halt.

The conflict in Colombia is relevant to Brazil but, so far, the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (like that of his predecessor, Fernando Henrique Cardoso) has done little to try and end it. Lula's attitude has been that of a driver who stops at the scene of a terrible road accident, shakes his head ruefully and drives on.

This week, the recently elected president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, held a meeting in Brasília with Lula and some of his ministers. Afterwards they announced an agreement on combating drug trafficking and the arms trade in their border area. Talks will also be held on allowing Colombia access to information from the Brazilian government's SIVAM high-tech security system covering the Amazon region.

This sounds good on paper, but the Colombians left for home frustrated at the Brazilian government's refusal to take measure, which the Colombians believe would bring more concrete results. The Colombians want Brazil to classify the FARC as a terrorist group, freeze its bank accounts in Brazil and detain any of its members or supporters in Brazilian territory. In fact, according to the local press, this topic was not even raised at the meeting.

One assumes the Colombians knew they were fighting a lost cause and wished to be diplomatic. Of course, the fact that it was not on the official agenda did not mean that the Brazilian, as hosts, could not have raised it. There was little chance of this since the Brazilian foreign minister, Celso Amorim, in one of the most absurd explanations imaginable, had said a few days earlier that Brazil did not have a list of prescribed terrorist groups and, therefore, could not add the FARC to it. Using weasel words while people's lives are at risk has always been the diplomatic way and Amorim was following in the long tradition of the Brazilian diplomatic corps.

Another ludicrous statement from one of Lula's advisers was that if Brazil were to call the FARC a terrorist group this could compromise any future role for the country as an intermediary. Instead of stating such nonsense, why does Brazil not offer to host talks, if it believes in peace, or start cracking down on guerrilla activities in its territory to show that it will not just stand by and watch this threat to regional security and democracy continue? The lack of action over Colombia compares with the flurry of activity at the start of the year when Brazil announced its support for Venezuela's besieged President Hugo Chavez and even sent technicians to break a strike in the oil industry.

There is a faction within the PT which regards the FARC as a progressive force fighting for social justice. The fact that the Americans have been helping the Colombians with arms, equipment and advisers makes these PT radicals mistrust any Colombian government and allows them to turn a blind eye to guerrilla atrocities. The U.S. has a list of proscribed terrorist groups and, in the views of these leftists, this is another reason for Brazil not to have such a list. Paradoxically, it is this very ideological aspect which could bring about a solution. If the FARC is an organization fighting for social justice why, then, does it not ask Brazil, under the impeccably left-wing Lula, to try and broker a solution? And why, instead of complaining, do the PT radicals not also try and use their influence with the FARC to get peace talks started? The answer is simple: the FARC is not interested in peace talks or social justice but only in maintaining its own power. Trying to broker any deal would be a nightmare, just as cleaning up the mess after a car crash, but it would be to Brazil's credit if it tried.

John Fitzpatrick is a Scottish journalist who first visited Brazil in 1987 and has lived in São Paulo since 1995. He writes on politics and finance and runs his own company, Celtic Comunicações—  www.celt.com.br, which specializes in editorial and translation services for Brazilian and foreign clients. You can reach him at jf@celt.com.br

© John Fitzpatrick 2003

You can also read John Fitzpatrick's articles in Infobrazil, at www.infobrazil.com

www.kansas.com Posted on Fri, Mar. 07, 2003 ADALID CABRERA LEMUZ Associated Press

BRASILIA, Brazil - Brazil's president promised Friday to help Colombia in its fight against drug traffickers and guerrillas, labeling the insurgents "terrorists."

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva pledged the assistance at the end of a five-hour visit from his Colombian counterpart, Alvaro Uribe.

"Brazil has committed itself to support Colombia in its fight against drug traffickers and terrorists," Silva said.

Silva's labeling the guerrillas terrorists came a day after the U.S. ambassador to Ecuador said nations neighboring Colombia could help Uribe by calling the FARC group terrorists because that's "what they are."

Brazil's first leftist president in 40 years, Silva has frequently been critical of the proposed Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, which is scheduled to take effect by 2005. Silva's opposition, as he leads South America's largest economy, could complicate approval of the agreement, which Bush supports. The agreement seeks to create a free-trade zone stretching from Alaska to Argentina.

Neither president provided details on Brazil's help, but diplomatic sources said it would probably include tighter controls along the 1,020-mile frontier between the two countries.

Brazil is also expected to provide Colombia with information obtained by its Amazon Surveillance System _a network of radars, surveillance airplanes and computers.

The $1.4 billion system was inaugurated last year to help Brazil unlock the economic potential of the vast Amazon region and fight intrusions from Colombian guerillas or drug traffickers.

"Terrorism destroys democracy, life and natural resources, including those of the Amazon (rain forest)," Uribe said. "If it is not dealt with, it will expand its activities across the border into Brazil."

Colombia's war, now in its 38th year, pits the FARC and a smaller rebel group against the government and outlawed paramilitary groups. The guerrilla groups and a rightist paramilitary operation all rely on drug trafficking to fund their operations.

The two presidents also discussed ways to strengthen relations between the Mercosur and Andean Community trading blocs. Mercosur is made up of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. The Andean Community is made up of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.