TRACES OF A RIVER Travel Book
Artur Sgambatti Monteiro
Vladimir Ospina Rodriguez
TRACES OF A RIVER Travel Book
Artur Sgambatti Monteiro
Vladimir Ospina Rodriguez
Copyright of Text and Illustrations Original title TRAÇOS DE UM RIO: Caderno de viagem Text Artur Sgambatti Monteiro Vladimir Ospina Rodriguez Editing Artur Sgambatti Monteiro Vladimir Ospina Rodriguez Illustrations Artur Sgambatti Monteiro Vladimir Ospina Rodriguez Photos Artur Sgambatti Monteiro Vladimir Ospina Rodriguez Anna Luiza Esteves Machado Gustavo Hengles Veiga Yzadora Monteiro Cover and Graphic project Coletivo Oitentaedois Translation Vitor Tagor de Magalhães Monteiro Revision Vitor Tagor de Magalhães Monteiro Clay Johnson Artur Sgambatti Monteiro Vladimir Ospina Rodriguez.
This Project has been developed with support from different persons and organizations. Apart from local institutions and activists, which are properly acknowledged further on, special thanks go to the following institutions: Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung and the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS-Potsdam) both located in Germany and also Gwärtler Stiftung from Switzerland, that have provided key resources for the conclusion of this work. For further information please access: www.makaxera.art ISBN: 978-65-00-37914-3
Summary Acknowledgements The Doce from this Side Warming Up the Engines Travel Book Marvellous Regência Areal And Entre Rios From Linhares To Colatina Krenak Head Of Earth The Man And The River Vale Do Aço We Are All Without Fish All Roads Lead To Vila Rica The Source Of The Mud Paracatu Photographs Glossary About the Authors
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all those involved who have allowed this work – which so much reflects what we believe – to be carried out. As numerous as they are, it is essential to mention those who contributed to this material. First of all, we would like to thank the Institute of Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS-Potsdam) for the support they offered. Without it, it would not have been possible to confer the technical and aesthetic quality necessary for the completion and translation of the second edition of this book. This work was only possible due to the great support offered by several of its professionals and researchers to whom we would like to thank nominally, among them Achim Maas, Matthias Tang, Maria Cecilia de Oliveira, Judith von Pogrell and Clay Johnson.
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Likewise, we would like to thank the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (AvH) for offering Artur the International Climate Protection fellowship and allowing him to expand his belief in his work as well as in the need to carry it out. Its support gave Artur peace, material safety and a support network which provided him with the tools and courage he needed to complete this work. Within the AvH team, special thanks go to Judith Köster, Judith Schildt and Magdalena Süß. We thank close friends and colleagues who have always believed in the beauty and the power of working art and social awareness through subjectivity. Among them, it is essential to thank our friends José Renato Sant’Anna Porto, Natália Almeida Souza, Gustavo Hengels Veiga, Anna Luiza Esteves Machado, Yzadora Monteiro, Ana Cíntia Guazzelli and Paulo de Sá. In addition to assisting us in different stages of the project, they were fundamental in their encouragement and motivation to complete this work.
We also thank our families for their everlasting support and strength. Artur in particular thanks his father, Vitor Tagor de Magalhães Monteiro, for the translation, corrections and discussions about the material exposed here, and his mother, Ana Laura Paula Sgambatti, for always supporting him in his most diverse efforts. Vladimir also thanks all the close friends and family who paid at least some attention to the project and motivated him to keep the motivation despite the distance from France or Colombia to Brazil, and especially his mother, Mery Rodriguez, who encouraged him not to give up. We would like to thank people and activists involved in the resistance for the recovery of the Doce River, among them people working in different initiatives such as the Rio Doce Alliance (Aliança Rio Doce) and GIAIA (Grupo Independente para Análise do Impacto Ambiental), for not only exploring the river together at different times, but mainly for highlighting the role of working together as the single possible tool for changing reality here and today. In particular, Hauley Valim, Zoe Sullivan, Flávia Freitas Ramos, Bianca Pavan Piccolli and Dante Pavan.
Above all, we thank everyone who opened themselves to our curiosity and indignation with fraternity and compassion. We are speaking here of the very ones directly affected along the Rio Doce, who opened their homes and their hearts to show their reality and open wounds. Also the ones we didn’t have the pleasure to meet in person. The humility, grit, simplicity and love with which the people of Rio Doce welcomed us throughout these days is the greatest lesson we could learn. We thank them and, through this book, we would like to extend some of what we have received. To them, more than anything, we offer this book. Thank you all for making us believe in the future of our joint existence on Earth and in our power of transformation, individual and collective.
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The Doce from this Side
During Artur and Ospina’s passage through the estuary, we still didn’t know how and with whom to ally ourselves to minimize the devastating effects of the drama we were experiencing. Our only certainties were the contamination of water and fish and the community disarticulation actions implemented by the mining company. When the authors left the river mouth, in the opposite direction of the mud, I was sure that it would be possible to invert the logic of the damage from the knowledge about it. In dialogues and discussions, we realized and began weaving a fighting tool. An artistic map that descriptively pointed out important elements in the process: densities in time, space, culture and in the environment; the tensions in social relationships and the consequences of having one’s daily life drastically interrupted.
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Like every map, this book is a guide, as it shows, besides the mud path, the resistance to it, the paradigmatic stories and the points of hope and light, for one to cling to and strengthen. Thanks to processes like this, today we have the strength, clarity and structure to advance on three major fronts: the promotion of scientific research to understand the chemical-physical and environmental relationship imposed by contamination; articulation for the political fight, both for rights and for accountability for the crime; and regeneration initiatives, which propose practical solutions to everyday problems.
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Reviewing the time since we were crossed by iron and mud means reviewing trodden paths, alliances, mistakes, affections, strengths and talents; it means knowing, strengthening and advancing in this time of struggle. This book is a tool in the struggle because, in its cartography, it shows us a path trodden, in traces, narratives, tensions, hopes, resistances and points of light, amalgamated by affection and struggle, which drives us to dreams and solutions. Updating the dimension of the drama in memory will give us the measure of love necessary for the regeneration of bodies, communities and the Rio Doce.
Hauley Valim January 7th, 2017 Sociologist and surfer in Regência
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Warming Up the Engines
Thursday, November 5th, 2015, the day the country’s largest environment tragedy-crime began. The Fundão Dam, one of the largest dumping reservoirs of mining refuse on Earth, broke, freeing tonnes of mud and toxic waste into the Gualaxo do Norte River; several districts of Barra Longa and Mariana1 had their houses buried and several lives were taken; for about 200 kilometres, the mud that went down at an astonishing speed and in threatening volume has eaten up the riverside and its shoulders have been removed, leaving an open scar. A little below the confluence with the Piranga River, here, the first place it is called the Doce River, the mud avalanche is restrained at the reservoir of Candonga2, compromising a power plant. From this point on, the destruction is caused by contamination (in its several forms). Today the Doce River is completely contaminated, and millions of persons’ usage of the water has been affected by the deterioration: their consumption, irrigation, fishing, leisure, surfing, etc.
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The illustrations here reflect impressions and hopelessness: of Regência Augusta, where a people without their old Caboclo3, Bernardo4, have gone on without fishing and surfing; of Areal, where Botocudos5 Indians, not having their ancestrality recognized, depend on gallons of water and cassava flour with sugar to replace the nourishment that the river used to give them; of Tumiritinga, where settlements6 in their many defences of the river are being attacked daily and are now prevented from producing anything; of Sem Peixe7, which saw the first prophecy of its name materialized; of Paracatu de Baixo, in Mariana, where of its dozens of families, a few more than five people continue living in their houses; and of the whole population, not understood, regarded as non-existent by the bigger interests that hush people, communities in all their richness, manifestation and culture. The present affective survey of the Doce depicts some of the main social and environmental conflicts that are unfolding throughout the riverbed and a few faces representing many Brazilians, who are recurrently overwhelmed in their ways of living more
than by oblivion, by indifference. All the material was produced during fifteen days by my good fellow Vladimir and myself. At first, the main purpose of the expedition was to collect data related to the impact of the disaster-crime and its social impacts, as well as the resulting vulnerability of the affected people. This data would later be used in an impact assessment published by the Federal University of Espírito Santo8. Throughout January 2016, we would follow the whole river, through communities, settlements and small fishing villages, searching for leaderships and a description of the events through their voices. On January 2nd, 2016, I went alone from Rio de Janeiro to Vitória9 on my motorcycle, Arana, a road companion, its use being justified by the expeditionary ideal of the project and also by the way it let me experience the distance between the big centres of Brazil and the Doce. Agreements on the details and methodology to be employed were made with Bianca and Dante Pavan, a sociologist and a biologist at GIAIA (an activist group for which we did the studies), friends who offered great support throughout the trip and guidance in the studies to be performed. XIII
Having Regência as my first destination, I went along the coast, and there, meeting Vlad, we realized how the illustrations and our artistic work would be an extension of our life experience, not only as a routine practice, but also as a powerful tool of expression in a moment where subtleties are lost in destruction. Our first days at the delta of the Doce were marked by some important factors that completely defined our remaining work. First of all, the strong smell of iron recalled the rust and the death of the river, announced and materialized in everything that one can see; the orange colour of everything together with the strong odour conferred upon the river the character of blood in an open vein of a weeping land; and, certainly, the company and guidance of Hauley Valim, sociologist, surfer, and well acquainted with the entire mouth of the Doce River, its dynamics and stories. Certainly, this first, strong contact set the intended tone for the days to come and directed our intentions to the work in this region to be explored. This is a river to be heard.
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In this research, we sought not only to listen to reports and learn the facts, but also to understand the different peoples and their stories, legends, wishes and dreams. Furthermore, the very disaster has influenced our current work: its pains are ours and it is for them we act. Drawing, by its method of creation, exposes us to its different nuances and feelings while facing the river. In this way and under such influence, we have tried to sensitize ourselves to one of the most delicate issues in Brazil: the persistent forgetting and erasing of realities and vulnerable traditional peoples in favour of the pasteurization of societies, as well as the terrible impact that thousands of families are submitted to and left with, daily and repeatedly. May the Doce not be an affirmation of our condition of submission! Artur Sgambatti Monteiro & Vladimir Ospina
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There are those who believe that destiny rests on the knees of the gods, but the truth is that it works, as a burning challenge, on the consciences of men. Eduardo Galeano
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TRACES OF A RIVER To all, so many, who the mud has stigmatized, changing their path, and to their new steps. Once in any encounter there is a more or less long farewell ceremony, may we place in them the sincere value of truth.
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Saturday – 09/01/2016
Marvellous REGÊNCIA After leaving Vitória, bestowing upon the trip an opening tone, finally I will see the river, which I already knew, but which is now another… Feeling gratified, especially for having travelled the road that separates the capital from the mouth of the Doce along the coast. From the mountain range onwards, the whole coast is spotted by a stretchby-stretch decreasing number of touristic cities, the wind remains strong and constant. The traditional population, now more in need than ever, is extremely close to the river. I witness the richness of a complete occupation here. Seeing camps and settlements of the MST10, native Indian territories, quilombo11 remnants, a harbour, oil extraction wells and one of the largest pulp and paper mills in the country.
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At the same time, the diversity of my country consolidates the presence of large public or private projects. They are widespread, and their impacts are as absurd as they are evident. More than in our cities, the contradictions of those above versus those below are evident. The conflicts over land have pushed the population towards a situation of severe need. I perceive this all along the route, especially since the dam has collapsed. The impacts of the toxic waste on the region are obvious and profound... The sea? turns orange, half bloody, half rusty and riverside dwellers – if not everyone – claim their rights here.
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Saturday – 09/01/2016
Arriving at Regência, having seen the river, I notice the same mud sadness on everyone’s face. Although the summer is present in this, one of the most touristic regions in the state, the atmosphere is one of mourning. Alongside the riverbank, on the beaches and wherever there is a tap, the rust colour and the same smell is in everything. Fishermen, surfers, boatmen and residents many times keep at their work in the same way, not because they are unaware of the risks, but mostly because of the impossibility of dissociating their existence from their occupation. Their connectedness. What would they be if not this? Barely having arrived, my being is already being invaded by the damage the mud has caused. I am welcomed by my friend Hauley, active on several fronts in the struggle for the Doce, as well as a sociologist, surfer, thinker and social articulator of Regência.
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No one could better explain to me the real impacts of the catastrophe and their magnitude in the region. We spend three days surveying the flood’s effects on various communities in the surroundings. They are intense days, not only because of the demanding work routine, but also in view of the stories, as rich as they are tragic. One of the marked examples of the regional richness is the story of Caboclo Bernardo, a fisherman who in 1887 saved 128 lives from a shipwreck in the Imperial Navy and was personally decorated by Princess Isabel12. He became a hero, and also a contradictory figure in the region, mainly because of repercussions of this event and the half real, half legendary aspect of his story. He is an acknowledged spiritual entity in Umbanda13 rituals, a Christian chapel has been erected in his honour and he is remembered even in popular festivities, being known as far as in the Triângulo Mineiro14 and viewed by some as a native Indian. He is a representative of the Caboclo and traditional culture that survives in the region, as well as of our dilemmas.
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Saturday – 09/01/2016
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There are also other contradictions in the region, where Samarco15 has been present for months, as a big hand moving ambition and not healing the actual, obvious and brutal reality here. Likewise, there is clear evidence of attempts to dismantle social groups in the region, meetings that conflict with community activities, a financial support that in no way replaces water and the distressing presence of a big lie.
I ask myself daily, and each time more, about the real dimension of the disaster and all its implications in such a vast region of Brazil, as well as the shameful reaction of our government. After all, the increasingly obvious impossibility of the current game rules vis-à-vis social needs is painfully clear.
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Saturday – 09/01/2016
“Arriving at the port of Regência, the metallic smell of the air is omnipresent. The static waters numb my perception of colours. It could even be the natural colour hue of the river, but the silence of the atmosphere whispers otherwise.
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Empty vessels float sadly as if afraid of abandonment. In the floating line of the hulls, the ochre trace of a dyed river can be distinguished. Nearby the daily life persists, a couple lives their romance and kids playing distracted gives the impression to the visitor that the indignation is an already digested theme.”
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Sunday – 10/01/2016
AREAL AND ENTRE RIOS Our first direct contact with the specific work we are here to do throughout January takes place in the village of Areal, close to Regência. The community is located 800 metres away from the flowing, though sad, Doce, embedded in the middle of dozens of pumpjacks, in Portuguese “cavalinhos” (little horses), oil extraction wells belonging to Petrobras16 in the Lagoa Parda field.
I have the impression I am on a ticking time bomb – all over, there are pipelines and cows in a parched landscape. The silent movement of the pumps set the pace of development, confronting the impoverished condition of the village. There are few houses, and the rare population has fled from the sun. Garbage is scattered through the village where boats have retired from the river and roças17 no longer exist. Samira, a long-time friend who is also discovering the river, and I interview the Barcelos family; several children are playing and running. Some of them, beautiful and with clear native Indian features, have several open sores on their bodies, like some kind of skin disease... could it be from the river? We speak with the residents who anxiously take turns explaining the situation and the way Samarco selects the beneficiaries and all the insufficient water supply that has been carried out.
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Sunday – 10/01/2016
The following Sunday morning, we go to an INCRA18 settlement initiative, led by Mr Nilton. The water he used to draw from the river for his crops, once rich and diverse, has dwindled to its twenty-fourth part and he is now reliant on Samarco’s water truck supply at increasing intervals. We observe his dry roça, the barbecue place next to a spoiled natural swimming pool, hope in the shape of an artesian well (possibly contaminated) and dead lambs from diarrhoea. The incessant struggle for the demarcation of his land has been raised to the dimension of the destruction of the river. The resistance of those who do not sleep, of those who breathe and are drenched in the contradictions of our society, despite being invisible to the television of the big cities, is incessant.
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Witnessing the water crisis, combined with the abundance of mud and the destruction of the community autonomy of entire populations, creates an awareness of the urgency of commitment that I have rarely felt.
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Sunday – 10/01/2016
Mr Nilton explains the new farm water management:
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“Samarco trucks deposit drinking water in a 25,000-litre container, intended for direct consumption by the family, bathrooms, cooking and to quench thirst.
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Crops were initially irrigated from the river. Today, there is a new well between the river and the crops where the water has a lighter colour... how long?
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Monday – 11/01/2016
FROM LINHARES TO COLATINA Departing from Regência, Arana, Vladimir and I go on for more than 60 kilometres along the river, through abandoned and parched cocoa farms. Ancient clearings today frame a landscape of decrepit and abandoned properties, all the way as far as Colatina, largely due to the witch’s broom19 disease. The vigorous production of the past has given way to old workers and their descendants living off the remnants of the earlier productive process. Farmhouses and former workers’ villages are often occupied by sparse families. Before reaching the BR101 highway, there are more than ten large farms, in a state of total abandonment, where some of the families, now without access to water, live in poverty. Many live on what grows even with scarce irrigation, and some insist on fishing for what are now reddish fish, one of the few sources of protein, although possibly poisoned.
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In a state of intense dryness due to the drought, the scenario resembles the semi-arid20 areas of our northeast region, which is frightening because the entire region was originally covered by the Atlantic Rain Forest21. The wide alluvial plain that extends for kilometres around the mouth of the river allows its floods to reach enormous proportions, a reality that is worrying. The water channel opened by Fibria22 is also located in this region, taking a huge amount of water to cool its machinery, many times preventing the flow of the river from being sufficient to reach the sea. To generate public acceptance, it has been named after Caboclo Bernardo, displeasing many.
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Monday – 11/01/2016
In Linhares, we are thirsty for work and growing uncomfortable with everything we see. The river here is impressive, and now its frightening tone variation replaces the old focus – the huge bridge destroyed years ago. Heading north, the region begins to get even drier, denoting a strong process of desertification, evidenced by the drought and poor soil, noticeable in its gullies. Here we pass an MST camp23, next to the roadside, on a hot, hard land deprived of shade. At the site, the vast majority are women and children in precarious condition. Asbestos tiles and black tarpaulins ensure the sleep of the families under the harsh sun, and sporadic food donations supply their nourishment. These are people affected for different reasons, from different places, and this makes their fighting condition, however fragile, their only possibility for improvement.
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Further on is the MST settlement Sezínio Fernandes de Jesus. With their prerogatives achieved and rights guaranteed, the settlement has an impressive physical structure and better living conditions than all the other places we visited.
They are more than one hundred families that have been affected by the crime and have come into direct conflict with the government for taking the necessary actions. In view of the possible contamination of their lakes by the mud that came down from Minas, they demand that the channels that connect them to the river be blocked... Fire and the blocking of the road on their doorstep have forced the government to act. Reports of the abuse of power and repression mark the conflict over ensuring the local water quality, the basic source of life.
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Monday – 11/01/2016
“Amidst the merciless heat stands a majestic tree, an oasis of shadow inserted into the desolate MST camp: this is the meeting place. The families timidly agreed to talk to us and tell their story.
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On the fragile façades of the houses, the sound of plastic sheets, blown by the rare wind, marks the precariousness of the situation. Undoubtedly, here the disaster was not necessary to already question the imbalances in our society.”
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Tuesday – 12/01/2016
KRENAK HEAD OF EARTH We stay the night at the smallholding of our friends Bianca and Dante Pavan from GIAIA, who are also engaged in the defence of the Doce. They live at the small town of Itapina, close to the border with Minas Gerais24. Their house is a few metres away from an old ferry boat station used to cross to the city of Ipaba. After a long day of intense contacts and harsh reality, we arrive at the farmhouse; the amount of mosquitoes is absurd, and keeps us awake. Throughout this journey, we hear reports of the increase in the number of insects, a fact that many attribute to the river and its orange colour. Could it be due to the possible lack of amphibians?
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Talking for a while with Geraldo, the caretaker, again shows the simplicity of the people, a fact that will be deepened from now on. The real magnitude of the matter is unknown to them (and to me), as is the correct measurement of the impact and even their options for resistance, often non-existent. All the while they believe in the sufficiency of a few litres of water at a steadily reduced frequency. The indifference with which Samarco evades its responsibilities, as well as their unfairness in defining those affected is frightening, and causes the most vulnerable to be even more impacted. As there is little traditional occupation along the river, due to lack of time and to avoid large metropolitan areas, we have decided not to carry out surveys between Itapina and Resplendor.
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Tuesday – 12/01/2016
“Itapina. By sunrise, the mosquitoes have already had breakfast. We will be overlooking the unfinished bridge today. In the distance, a visually isolated city doesn’t even seem to be waking up. 24
The ruins grow amidst vegetation and a dry, shallow river. A dreadful landscape unfolds, despite the entire natural atmosphere providing a certain tone of resilience to the current times.”
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Tuesday – 12/01/2016
We advance through a landscape of growing hills and alarming environmental degradation. The drought of the river and its redness add to the cracked land in the construction of a scarce and decadent scenario. The neglect of the river mirrored in the curves in the road dates back many decades and is noticeable throughout the horizon. Here, the destruction, now silent, began many decades ago.
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The distinctive features of the people here bring me back to the origins of our land, as do the photos on the wall of Dona Dejanira’s house, with her strong and unique accent. For the first time on this journey, spanning from my birth, I found so much contrast in their way of thinking about and treating the world and my own. The now extinct richness and traditional ways of using the Doce place a new baseline on the impacts caused by the collapse of the dam, as they threaten even Brazil’s religious and cultural wealth.
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After crossing the bridge of Resplendor, we go to Horácio’s small property to gather information, which is not very illuminating, due to the selfreliance and relative distance of the Doce. We then advance to the Indigenous Land of the Krenak25, inhabited by hundreds of Indians from the Botocudo ethnic group. Never before having set foot on the land of native Indians, I confess I am surprised by the structure of the houses, as well as the entire existing social organization in the community. Farms spread over a large territory allow the maintenance of their activities, and the Eme, a tributary of the Doce, still provides them water. Here, they fish, work and maintain their religious and artistic traditions with relative autonomy from the outside world.
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Tuesday – 12/01/2016
The translation of the word Krenak, from the language of the same name, means head of Earth, referring to the awareness of their connection with, and total dependence upon, the surrounding nature. This land identifies, even in the primary nature of its meaning, the point where dissociation from the natural environment is impossible, since they consider themselves a unit integrated into the habitat. Having its origins directly linked to the river, the river achieves another proportion: it is no longer just a river, the Doce is God, creator and maintainer of life. Watú26 is his name, and he cries, Dejanira tells us.
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In addition to the beauty of the roças, where we are lost for hours trying to reach Conselheiro Pena, the region is enriched by the scenery of the mountains on the opposite bank of the river, shaped by the boulders of the Sete Salões State Park. Inevitably, the red colour adds a new proportion to the landscape. I am not sure if it is because of where we are, the work we are doing or even if it is a mere coincidence, but during the last 24 hours we have had recurrent close contact with riverside communities and fishing villages that live exclusively on the Doce. Going to Barra do Cuieté, we talk to humble families who are unaware of the scale of the problem and, in addition to their isolation, have not even received any kind of response from Samarco or the government.
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Wednesday – 13/01/2016
THE MAN AND THE RIVER Many affected people are not even considered due to legal problems, or even lack of registration with the government. Many live off fishing, feed on fish and depend on them, but if there is no record with the government of their economic dependence on fishing (that is, if they are not recognized professional fishermen), no assistance is provided... the river belongs to those registered in some file, in some virtual folder... Nevertheless, what is most shocking, in this small town of Conselheiro Pena, is the total absence of assistance related to the disaster that has occurred.
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This isolation prevents them from gaining any direct measure of response or even an understanding of their rights, placing them in a condition of great socioenvironmental vulnerability.
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Wednesday – 13/01/2016
On the other hand, further north, in São Tomé do Rio Doce, a village of just over 100 inhabitants, we meet Jackson, a robust, although thin, fisherman, and his family. Living about 8 metres from the river, their wrecked boat remains halfway in the water, and the irrigation pump that used to fill the water tanks has been stopped; they had little aside from the Doce. The animals are no longer drinking. All possible autonomy has been taken away from them since the dam collapsed.
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The catfish, mullet, anchovy, bass, tilapia and many others, once taken from the river, have now been converted into packets of pasta, cassava flour, soy oil and sugar, delivered as a compensation card by Samarco. The insertion of this community into this system could not be a greater sign of disgrace to any kind of effectively free and autonomous people. This conversion, always painful, is seen here in a tragic and revolting way.
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Luckily, we are welcomed and during the conversation he summarizes the fragile situation the fishermen find themselves in. His indications lead us to other stakeholders who tell us what has happened among the sound of the silent Doce.”
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“Lírio in Conselheiro Pena. After several hours spent looking for the fishermen’s union27 in the region, we find Lírio. Our injuries from a motorcycle fall have taken our full attention.
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Wednesday – 13/01/2016
“The man is the river. Here, more than ever it makes sense. In it, he fishes, drinks, washes, grows his crops. The river is his life in all its dimensions.
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The everyday life perfectly described by Jackson illustrates the vital dependence of the riverside communities. The miles twisting along the river have fed our awareness of what it is, subtleties alive in every meander.”
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As if they were more concerned with the financial compensation than with the contamination itself. What is the real role of benefits in such a situation of abandonment?”
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“Licério, in Barra do Cuieté, shows us a new perspective. Arriving in this community, we find a curious behaviour among the local fishermen. An atmosphere of denunciation prevails: they are criticizing each other for not being professional fishermen, thus not having the legitimacy to receive benefits.
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Wednesday – 13/01/2016
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Zé, the Pavuna of the entire Tumiritinga region and beyond, shows us his production in the form of persistent bananas, shrivelled okra and thirsty animals wrapped in their dry skin.
by many, he opens up, he exposes the difficulties of the reality in his so recurrent losses. Evidence that the fight is intrinsic and the need to change is long overdue.”
“On his small farm, he shares his concerns about how to feed his own people, the families of his own, and so many others. Being a community leader and followed
Always aware of his abandonment, he prefers to face the river with his tools and his hands marked by persistent resistance, as always.
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Despite being close to Valadares, the seat of the municipality, few services are provided to the region – schools, health centres or any type of transport. Their absence marks the passing of days. So we were told by João Gualberto, along with a parrot, his companion.”
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“As is usual throughout the Doce and its disregard, a lot is left out. However, in Derribadinha, the omission is complete. Amidst river and trains, the heritage village, the first settlement in the region, remains silent, an evidence of the neglect even of the past.
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Friday – 15/01/16
VALE DO AÇO
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Proceeding on our path marked by iron, still alive in the Vitória-Minas Railroad (EFVM), in the social relations and now in its fluvial variety, we continue our journey between two of the largest cities in the entire Doce River valley, Governador Valadares and Ipatinga. With the exception of our stop in Naque, located where the Santo Antônio River empties, our day is essentially marked by the road and by Arana, who guides us upriver. The BR-381, not only because of its proximity to the river but also because of the rapid contact it induces throughout this stretch, strongly marks the entire region and drives economic development, too.
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Factories, industries and speed are striking presences here. This is the first region we have crossed on this expedition with such few social practices linked to the river. Although present, the presence of small autonomous communities, perhaps forgotten from other points of view, is smaller than in the ColatinaValadares stretch. The traveller cannot ignore the traditional urban features of the surroundings, conditioning those dependent on the river to a hybrid lifestyle, between the rural and the urban. Because of this, we stop less to collect reports, since we are looking for small communities, leading us to question our own methodology and even the validity of our work. Until now, it has proved efficient, as we have seen the river as a whole – maybe we will need a boat from now on?
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Friday – 15/01/16
As for the geography and physical first impressions of the region, it is possible to point out striking characteristics. Despite the severe drought, intensified by the considerable use of river water, upstream from Valadares the green is more present and erosion, though existent, is less marked than on the way from here to the sea. The great mountains and even the massive boulders no longer mark the landscape, as if this immense sea of hills29 in southern Minas Gerais were broader and more uniform in its variation, contrasting with the mountainous drought spattered with inselbergs that mark the landscape of the state boundary. Here is also one of the first places where we see remnants of the Atlantic Forest, providing a different climate to the entire region. Indeed, it rains today, an extraordinary fact that has left us stuck in Ipaba all day.
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We end up leaving late the next morning and head to Revés do Belém and Córrego Novo; again we find few residents along the river, which here runs isolated between mountains. We also pass by the Rio Doce State Park. As the roads still run far from the river, activities close to it are rare. Even the local residents are unaware of riverside communities. Several times we try to get close to it, then we proceed to São José do Goiabal, where we set up camp on a rainy night.
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Friday – 15/01/16
“We are in Naque, close to Nanuque, right at the mouth of the Santo Antônio and here we find Hoscar Isaías in his stories.
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- The river looks like a dead fish curd that furiously invades its blue waters. A modern plague version cursed the region. This is a disaster of marked violence for every sad testimony.
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Hoscar has lived the Doce in various ways, on fishing boats, on its many islands with ancient ones. He tells, as a nightmare, of the day the mud arrived and the sea of dead fishes: piaba, carapeba, bass, anchovy, peacock bass, tilapia, mullet, dourado, ticupá create a flood of death next to the mud.”
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
WE ARE ALL WITHOUT FISH Once we have entered the second half of that hot January, having an already hurried human pace, I, as a believer in the zodiac, know that I have entered my “astral hell”. An Aquarius with an ascendant in Virgo and, from what I have learned empirically, I see myself represented by what is said about this convergence: airy, humanistic, somehow distant and sometimes pragmatic. Now, I am clinging to such pragmatism, as I see that this is the only way for me to face what I see day after day. The involvement with everything that is here is depressing, so placing yourself here as an observer makes dealing with this fact easier – to digest what you see.
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It has been raining since we arrived at night in São José do Goiabal. As we are tired from the wear of the trip, especially as we have had little human contact since Valadares, the many, many kilometres travelled and the late hours, we decide to set up camp at a bus stop on the side road that leads to the city. Despite the light rain that falls on us for hours, we receive a friendly welcome by the city we don’t even know. The bus stop provides us a restaurant, bed and table.
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
We break camp and head for Sem Peixe, where, for the first time, we come across corn, planted for miles on end along the banks of the Doce. As far as the city there are twenty kilometres of the most terrible road so far, a muddy dirt road warning us of what is to come. Moisture has become omnipresent, on us, in the earth, on everything. By late morning it has already been raining for 20 hours and we are soaking wet; it will rain for another 5 days. After gathering information in the city, we have decided to go in search of the tiny communities that insist on living close to the river.
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They are isolated: the historical moment has left them with their backs to the river, but also an entire rural population with their backs to the countryside. There are reports that, at another time, these lands were home to more than ten times the current population, disillusioned with the countryside, hoping for opportunities in the urban area; many are in São Paulo, others in Rio, others in Belo Horizonte. We want to know what the road signs foreshadow – California, Barbosa and Santana do Deserto.
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
“In Sem Peixe, the scene is different. The rain has continued for days, and Minas Gerais expresses itself in its minute details, whether in the accent, in its 48
food, or even in the slow passage of time that still persists in the milk delivery men, repeated black coffees30 and hand-rolled cigarettes31.”
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
As we continue our journey, not only does the rain, already uninterrupted, intensify, but each curve in the road becomes muddier and practically impossible. We skid around until, by providential mistake, we stop in California, a village with a few scattered houses in the distance. Talking to the people of this small and declining farm, I realize not only the strong isolation they live in, but also how this whole process concerns the very life of our cities, opposite to the countryside and yet attractive, which greatly reduces possibilities in rural areas and thus its due continuity. Everyone here is vehement in not only pointing out the reduction of the district, and other ones around it, but also the worsening condition of production and life in the countryside. There is a lack of infrastructure, education, health care and now water. As we will see further on, few have direct contact with the Doce and, apart from sporadic fishing, the only effective use of its waters is for the cattle, who simply continue to drink from the river today, as happens practically all along it.
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My own awareness of isolation has been accentuated mainly due to the rain and the mud that is holding us back. It has taken us about an hour to advance, overcome, with a little more than twelve kilometres separating us from Barbosa, whose inhabitants once again claim to not have been affected by Samarco, a common comment, despite the neighbouring mud stream. Going on, and after some tumbles and towing, we stop to talk to Mr Horácio, who provides us with a new perspective of what has happened.
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
A long conversation shows us the changes in the past dynamics of the river, villages abandoned long before the disaster by the logic of events and now sealed with mud. I believe we are about to experience a large exodus, now of environmental refugees, and in a few months, of mining refugees. Horácio, simple and ever a resident of these lands, witnesses the migration from the region like few others and maintains sporadic contact with his only neighbour, two kilometres to the north-east, and with the small village of Merengo on the other side of the river. Although limited and well-defined, his relationship with the river is small and his cattle keep swimming in the Doce. Auxiliadora, his wife, serves us the wellknown coffee from Minas, half coffee, half molasses, and cake that is our lunch.
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Our next destination will be Santana do Deserto, at the village of Rio Doce, located in front of the Candonga dam, where the destructive wave of the mud has been restrained. However, as it takes us a little more than two hours to advance about three kilometres, with Arana practically skating, we give up continuing that day. The rain insists on increasing and we can’t even get on the bike because of the complete humidity we are immersed in. Covered in mud, we decide to go back and ask Horácio and the saviour Auxiliadora for asylum. So, with a fire and a free-range chicken, we are welcomed by the sincere hospitality of Minas Gerais.
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
“Next to the village of Barbosa, just in front of the other small village, separated by the river in its rust, there is not much in the region. Clear reports set us up for a scenario of declining rural reality, few come, many go. 54
After spending hours, days, and many kilometres in the rain, we are covered in mud. Horácio and his wife Dora receive us with the simple hospitality of a few shared moments. For their support and assistance, we are grateful.”
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
ALL ROADS LEAD TO VILA RICA Leaving Horácio’s house on Arana, we try, for the last time, and not for long, to follow the road that will take us to Santana do Deserto. We soon give up – the road is flooded, and with great difficulty we make our way back to Sem Peixe, going through the small towns of Dom Silvério and Rio Doce, where it originates from the junction of Piranga (intact) and the Carmo stream (completely destroyed). We are on the bridge over the river and the amount of mud coming down is frightening, now it has been raining for seven days in the region and the river is mighty. Its margins bear the mark of destruction, a fact unheard-of for us until now. On this journey, we see dozens of Doce Rivers and their grief.
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As we have experienced from Ipatinga up to now, there are few roads along the riverside. The sea of hills is already persistent and even vertiginous, a fact that prevents the proper occupation of the river and its banks, allowing them to be woodlands, still dense (making everything humid and cold, despite the hot and dry summer seen downstream). However, as it has been raining for days and everyone tells us to avoid dirt roads, we give up following the river along its small paths. From now on, it has more vegetation and steeper banks. We will avoid, as far as possible, what happened yesterday. The mud has hit us from several sides. From Rio Doce onwards, only Barra Longa and Mariana remain on our radar with their districts. Definitely the most affected communities and the most torn forests − there are reports that at certain points there has been up to ten metres of hills uprooted by the avalanche and new omnipresent mud plains. This same mud that prevented us from getting to know Candonga marks our way all along the river, so we have decided to go straight to Ouro Preto32, where we will stay at the house belonging to friends from other roads and can dry off.
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Saturday – 16/1/2016
Just before the city of Ponte Nova, the fork in the river is visible. We skirt the Piranga and see the orange of the Carmo go into the hills, which we will finish circling only the following day. Its waters used to flow between preserved hills and historic cities such as Barra Longa and countless districts. Almost all of them are affected by the mud. Many have lost their homes, some... family members, but all, their history... their lives. The challenging access made us go through the escarpments of this mountain range to the once-called Vila Rica. On a path that has always been marked by mining and its consequences. We know that from now on, the riverbanks will have their veins open, and the cities will be overwhelmed by mud. Even with the previous background along the entire river, nothing has prepared us for the days to come. We will do our best to reach some of the communities, but the heavy rain restricts us to Camargos, close to the extinct Bento Rodrigues33, and to – also wiped off the map – Paracatu de Baixo34...
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Monday – 18/1/2016
THE SOURCE OF THE MUD Camargos is a small district on the edge of the Tesoureiro River. I already know it, having photographed and drawn it. Arana and I were here six months ago, on a more playful trip and with lighter recognition of the Estrada Real35.
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I remember being amazed by the small village, not only for its colonial beauty, but also for having served as an entry point to the north of the historic region and for being the beginning of a still preserved Minas, however pierced by all sort of mines. We are greeted by the usual bucolic atmosphere, but the air is different.
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Monday – 18/1/2016
“Mariana… Old city! It is said to be the first settlement in the entire state, the first capital for sure. The village was established to initiate control of the entire mining process that would come to name the state till the present day. 62
For centuries, all the roads in the region have crossed here, it is here that they started. For centuries, mining pits and tunnels, whatever the ore, have marked the entire region. Even today, in its negligence marked by exploitation, the paths depart from Mariana in the shape of mud.
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Everything is taken from our lands. History persists in describing itself and recounting its disasters, hoping to be guided by other steps. We ask ourselves, where does all this fit, as a model of a new Brazil, in its example of irresolution, guided to where, from now on?”
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Monday – 18/1/2016
After a few minutes we are interviewing Dona Adriana, originally from Belo Horizonte, who has moved away for the peace of the countryside. She and her husband João make several statements about what happened. They have lost old friends, and practically all their acquaintances have had their lives devastated; fortunately, they have been able to keep their home and their health. They point out problems with Samarco and negligence on the part of the government. Nevertheless, what certainly has shocked us most in their accounts is the fact that, around 24 hours before the dam broke, a huge explosion was heard miles away from the mine. The most curious point about this fact is that this explosion was the only one, in decades of the mining operation, to have occurred outside the scheduled hours of the mining company.
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Until now, we have already heard all kinds of reports that indicate negligence in dealing with the situation, but this is the first time we hear reports about the smothering of a fact that may have been decisive for understanding what happened. Undoubtedly, this fact deserves a more detailed investigation.
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Monday – 18/1/2016
We continue for a while heading north, not long, trying to reach Bento Rodrigues, but access along this route is blocked, as stretches of the road are dragged out. Here and there, it is possible to unveil sights of total destruction. We decide to climb a hill near the high voltage towers, and nothing has prepared us for this. As far as the end of the horizon, the river unfolds like a snake, a big Boitatá36, in the shape of destruction. Surrounded by the green of the somehow preserved forest, we see the cut that the torrent has made. All the valleys around the mine are torn up, and the slope cuts reach ten metres high... carried away by the river, by the mud, which in part remain. We go down and stop after seeing the chaos, at the edge of the point where a pathway along the Gualaxo River has been disformed into a cut in the hill. The old bridge, in an original stretch of the Estrada Real, has given way to the major discharge of debris in the country. The scenario of chaos is beyond measure.
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The Gualaxo unfolds in its valleys, metres below us and all the mountain slopes, about fifteen metres high, have been eaten and taken away by the force of the mud. It has swallowed everything, pulled down bridges, destroyed mountains, killed, buried, overwhelmed, wiped out... a river and its life. We don’t know what really needs to be done. Having already covered almost 2,000 kilometres, all we have witnessed is destruction. Here, we remain silent.
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Tuesday – 19/1/2016
PARACATU We have been on the road for two weeks. The river is felt in its entirety, not just in the covered stretches, but in its variations, curves and dams; in its abundance and its current whining. Just like the surrounding hills, the accents, the flavours change, so does the river: the way people understand it, see it, know it. From the millions of people who live it daily, we can hear reports from the most diverse, some quite dejected people, others are less dependent, but all are affected and suffering from an intractable reality. Tracing all this wealth of lives and stories has become a sad mission, while all along the river, and not just for its colour, the negligence is complete. Thousands depend on the river in various ways, and their complete history has been destroyed, all the richness of their lives, now buried, inert. As much as we are weary of knowledge and stories, none of that has prepared us experience Paracatu de Baixo.
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It rains constantly, nothing is dry; we almost lose part of our work. Guided by curiosity, we go to Monsenhor Horta, also an isolated district that gives access to the Gualaxo River and to all that live around it − Pedras, Furquim, Barretos and Paracatus (de Baixo and de Cima). Yesterday, we saw the damage of the Gualaxo, but here we cover it for several kilometres. It is possible to imagine what the region once was – green forests, high hills and a bucolic environment sustained by milk and cheese. The destruction of Bento Rodrigues, likewise, has extended as far as here and all portions of the hills closest to the river seem to have been torn off, as if cut off by a knife. The riverbed is gigantic, and the valley is covered, erased by the orange mud of Samarco. Some bridges have been rebuilt, others haven’t, but as the rain pours, the river has a force that reminds one of the times of the accident, easy to imagine, impossible to forget.
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Tuesday – 19/1/2016
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Tuesday – 19/1/2016
In Paracatu de Baixo, contractors of the mining company are everywhere and here they plant grass to prevent the waste from coming down, just as they let slow tractors compose the landscape. Farther down, where the floodplain is muddy, one can see the groove opened through the remains of houses and erased stories. Everything one breathes and sees is a vestige of a deleted past in a future of doubts. Pictures, dolls, clothes on the clothesline emerge here and there along the street leading to the village. The path may be the same as the original one, it is impossible to know; however, what is evident is the roofless houses, buried up to the window. Where once there were gardens and murmurs, there is now debris, destroyed pleasures and destruction. In the few houses left standing, one can see the height of the stain the mud has left, and all that is left in the surroundings, in a vigorous and persistent way, is the anguish, sadness and disgust that cannot be erased in a few decades.
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Without the Doce, Brazil and our own selves are less.
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The one we are all subjected to in one way or another. Being brave and strong to believe and fight for survival is already hard enough without calamities to complain about. The indifference and harshness of hopelessness strengthen what we have: the most valuable above all, the earth upon which we tread, and above all, life.
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Of the dozens of families who attended school, the bar, and the grocery store, who grew their food and went to the gym, just over three people resist, a mix of a lack of hope or choice and the attachment to something that no longer exists. Nothing in my life journey has prepared me to face such cruelty and incredulity. At various times during the trip, we feel that we should move forward, depict and draw the stories we have seen, nurturing the fight against impunity that seems to be synonymous with governance, going further inwards, farther up, more into Brazil. However, in Paracatu, seeing what we see, we have decided to write this simple publication that tells a bit of the story of all of us.
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Tuesday – 19/1/2016
“Paracatu de Baixo, Mariana. The city is a mere shadow of its former self.
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Its school has mud up to the head jamb of the door, at the height of the neck. The church, historical heritage, buried. The market and bars overturned and all the houses, even those far from the river, have been swept away.
Km 1835 Km 1801 Km 1748 Km 1588 Km 1243 Km 1153 Km 1049 Km 957 Paracatu de Baixo and Mariana are painful evidence of our dilemmas of wishing the world were another.”
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Toys, notebooks, photos, clothes, pots, doors, televisions are all mixed up, upsetting lives, erasing past times, and destroying futures.
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Tuesday – 19/1/2016
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Photographs The photos presented here were taken by the authors during the trip described in this book
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Glossary
Mariana: Mariana was the first city, state capital, and for centuries one of the main cities of Minas Gerais due to gold mining in the 18th century. Today, it is an important tourist destination because it retains the characteristics of a baroque city with its churches, buildings and museums. Its economy is still heavily concentrated on mining as it has large iron and manganese mines, including those belonging to Samarco. 1
Candonga: Risoleta Neves Hydroelectric Power Plant (also known by its old name, Candonga) was one of the hydroelectric power plants affected by the Doce River disaster; it has since been shut down. It is located at the border between the municipalities of Rio Doce and Santa Cruz do Escalvado.
Caboclo Bernardo: Bernardo Brumatti José dos Santos, also known as Caboclo Bernardo lived between 1859 and 1914. He was a fisherman who, in 1887, saved 128 lives from the shipwreck of the Brazilian Navy’s Imperial Marine Cruiser. After this feat he was decorated by Princess Isabel. Since then, he has been part of the local popular culture, which includes an annual party and a play performed in his name. He is even honoured in some Umbanda Temples in the region and in Minas Gerais. 4
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Caboclo: The primary meaning is mestizo, a person of mixed Amerindian and European ancestry. It may also be used to refer to any Indigenous Brazilian who is assimilated. Additionally, it may just refer to a hillbilly. Caboclo can also refer to entities related to forests and herbal knowledge constantly present in some religions with African roots, such as Umbanda. 3
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Botocudo: Generic designation given by the Portuguese colonizers to various Indigenous ethnic groups belonging to the macro-jê linguistic family, with different linguistic affiliations and geographic regions, whose members used ear and labial wooden discs. During the first centuries of colonization, they were present in the present-day states of Minas Gerais, Bahia and Espírito Santo and were responsible for the economic failure of the former hereditary captaincies of Ilhéus and Porto Seguro. Originally very present in the region of the Doce River valley, they have been decimated; today their population is restricted to a few groups, among them the Krenak. 5
Settlements: Rural settlements (assentamentos rurais) are an integral part of the process of occupation and colonization of land in the Brazilian hinterland and were for many decades an essential part of government policy. The National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) is the entity responsible for this work at the national level. Usually, settlements are made up of several units (small farms) independent of each other with different owners. The number of lots depends on the capacity of the land to support the settled families. Brazilian legislation provides that low productivity farms may be expropriated and destined for rural settlement projects. Many social movements work to guarantee access to land through this mechanism, such as the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), Comissão Pastoral da Terra, and Teia dos Povos, among others. 6
Sem Peixe: Name of a municipality located in the state of Minas Gerais whose name means literally “Without Fish”. 7
Espírito Santo: Meaning “Holy Spirit”, Espírito Santo is a state in south-eastern Brazil with an extensive coastline. It hosts an important port used for exporting iron and steel from the region of Minas Gerais, the port of Tubarão. 8
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Vitória: Capital of the state of Espírito Santo.
MST: The Landless Rural Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) is one of the largest social movements in Brazil. It maintains that rural poor workers should have a selfsustaining way of life through land reform and seeks the redistribution of unproductive land in Brazil. Among the various activities that the movement promotes, issues concerning food security and agroecology stand out. Part of its strategy involves the occupation of unproductive land and setting up camps with families. If access to land is granted, the camps are regularized and recognized as settlements by the Brazilian state (through INCRA). 10
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Glossary
Quilombo: Originally quilombos were refuge spaces and autonomous communities formed by Africans and Afro-descendants who fled slavery during colonization. They are presently spread throughout Brazilian territory and, according to current legislation, their residents can claim recognition of their escaped slave (quilombola) status and obtain access to land, as well as to projects for the preservation and enhancement of their historical and cultural heritage.
are classified in distinct levels; among them there are the Caboclos, who are highly knowledgeable about medical herbs, often prescribing inexpensive remedies to the ill.
Princess Isabel: Isabel (1846-1921) was the daughter of Dom Pedro II, second and last emperor of Brazil, and therefore princess of the empire and a presumptive heir. Among other activities, she promoted the last steps necessary for the end of slavery in the country, signing the Golden Law (Lei Áurea) in 1888.
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Umbanda: Brazilian religion of African origin, a strong symbol of the country’s religious syncretism including beliefs of different roots. It blends African traditions with Roman Catholicism, Spiritism, and Indigenous American beliefs. One of the beliefs of Umbanda is the communication with spirits that 13
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Triângulo mineiro: This region in the extreme west of the state of Minas Gerais counts with a strong and historical presence of beef and dairy cattle. Three of the most important cities of the state are located here: Uberlândia, Uberaba and Patos de Minas 14
Samarco: The Samarco Mineração S.A. is a Brazilian mining company founded in 1977 and currently controlled through a joint venture between Vale S.A. and the Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton, each holding 50% of the company’s shares. The Samarco mine is the site of the Mariana Dam disaster on November 5th, 2015. Vale S.A. (formerly Companhia Vale do Rio Doce), engaged in metals and mining, is one of the largest logistics operators in Brazil and the largest producer of iron ore and nickel in the world. Apart from the Mariana tragedy, Vale is also accountable for another catastrophic tailings dam failure: the Brumadinho disaster, which occurred around 120 kilometres away from Mariana.
It occurred in January 2019 and killed more than 270 people, most of them company employees. It is also important to state that the Vale do Rio Doce company, which used to bear in its name the proper name of the river, has a close relation to the river itself. Founded in 1942 and having the then-president Getúlio Vargas as its main articulator, Vale began its operation in the city of Itabira at the mine of Cauê. It was at this time that a railway was built through the Doce River valley as far as Vitória. This fact gave the name to the company and marks, as a stamp, its close relationship with the river itself. Petrobras: The largest Brazilian public company, it holds the rights to explore, produce and distribute oil and derivatives within Brazil. It has production plants spread across the country and abroad. 16
Roça: This is an ancient cultivation method, widespread among families that hold small farms in Brazil and also spread throughout South America. It consists of cutting down all the vegetation in an area, waiting for the fibres and wood to dry and burning this material before planting corn, beans, cassava and other products that may either be commercialized or saved for family usage. 17
INCRA: The National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform was created in the 70s to promote the distribution of land in regions with low population density. It has assisted the installation of numerous rural settlements in the national territory, mainly in regions that were considered to be demographic voids, such as the Amazon. 18
Witchs’ broom: A characteristic disease of certain vegetables. Despite reaching several plants, it is famous for the impact it has on cacao trees. It is caused by a fungus that strongly impacts production, often making entire regions unfeasible for cocoa production. 19
Semiárido: Part of north-eastern Brazil and the state of Minas Gerais is characterized by its extreme dry weather and relatively large population, being the most populated semi-arid region in the world. The Brazilian north-eastern region is present in the imaginary of the population as one of great hardships. Many inhabitants of this region have sought better life opportunities in large urban centres such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. 20
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Glossary
Mata Atlântica: The Atlantic Forest is a tropical forest biome that covers the eastern coast – northeast, south-east and south – of Brazil, including parts of Paraguay and Argentina. It is considered a major global biodiversity endangered hotspot because of its immense biodiversity and due to the fact that, in Brazil, less than 15% of its original coverage remains. 21
Fibria: Fibria was one of the largest pulp and paper companies in the world during its period of operation. Its activities were present near the mouth of the Doce River in the municipality of Aracruz. In 2019, its brand was discontinued after a merger with its major competitor Suzano Papel e Celuloses, today the largest paper producer in the world. 22
Acampamento: A camp. Social movements that seek access to land as the MST, through the recognition of ownership of unproductive areas, need to proceed through several stages. Normally, after occupying unproductive lands, they start to camp in the territory, waiting for legal proceedings to be forwarded so that they can finally be considered a settlement by INCRA. Frequently this recognition takes many years. 23
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Minas Gerais: A landlocked state that borders the state of Espírito Santo. Its name refers to the many mines that exist in the region, mainly due to the exploration of gold, which gave rise to the state and its first occupations like Mariana and Ouro Preto during the gold cycle. It is known for its heritage of architecture and colonial art in historical cities. The state is an important producer of minerals like iron, gold, zinc, and niobium, and is the largest producer of coffee and milk in the country. 24
Krenak: The Krenak are the last eastern Indigenous Botocudos, a name given by the Portuguese in allusion to the wooden discs worn in their lips and ears. They were systematically hunted in the final colonial period after the declaration of the “Just War” in 1808 with the aim of removing them from their territory, enabling white occupation. They were then forcibly christianized and enslaved if they resisted. During the military dictatorship many were transferred to the Krenak Agricultural Reformatory, which was a prison where they were subjected to forced labour. Later, they were transferred to the Guarani Farm, in the same region, and access to their land was restricted. In 1997, they returned to the surroundings of the Doce River, where they live 25
today. In 2015, they were severely impacted by the contamination of the Doce River, which was their main source of livelihood. Watú: The Krenak Indigenous people call the Doce River Watú Nék. The river is closely associated with its culture and belief system, and its waters are sacred, it is also considered an entity that has a personality. 26
Sindicato de pescadores: Fishermen’s union. Fishing is conducted as a subsistence process in several parts of Brazil, both in rivers and in the sea. The entire national fishing territory is divided among various fishing unions that assist fishermen in legal procedures to gain recognition of their work by the government. They played an important role in the Doce River disaster to assure fishermen receive access to financial benefits and financial aid. 27
Vale do aço: The Steel Valley is a region in the state of Minas Gerais at the Doce River valley. Its largest city is Ipatinga. It is marked by a large presence of the mining industry in its hinterlands, especially iron and steel, as well as the Vale S.A. train that runs along a large part of the Doce River. 28
Mar de morros: Literally meaning sea of hills. Characteristic form of the relief of the south of Minas Gerais that extends over vast regions, in a constant succession of hills. Making the region very rugged in terms of its landscape. 29
Frequent coffee: Minas Gerais, during the coffee cycle, was among the largest producer of coffee in the country. A bitter black coffee either unsweetened or with molasses is traditionally offered to visitors in every house. 30
Cigarro de palha: Straw cigarette, the old rope tobacco, grown in crops and rolled up in corn husks, very common in the Brazilian countryside. 31
Ouro Preto: Ouro Preto was founded in 1711 by the fusion of small settlements devoted to the exploitation of gold in Minas Gerais. Some years later it became the state capital and one of the most important gold exploration centres in history. Its name literally means Black Gold due to the characteristics of the gold found in the region, but originally it was called Vila Rica (Rich Village). It ceased to be the capital after Belo Horizonte was built in 1893, however it is still an important centre due 32
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Glossary
to its university, mining production and its strong touristic features (among them the richness of its architectonic heritage). Bento Rodrigues: Bento Rodrigues was a small village near Mariana that existed until December 5th, 2015 when the Fundão Dam broke, burying the entire community (around 600 inhabitants). Despite their close proximity to the Dam, many people were able to find shelter and at the end nineteen were killed. Due to its location, it was a site of the Estrada Real (see below) and a heritage site that has been erased by the accident. Currently, after five years, the families live in rented flats in close-by cities, and it is still uncertain how the families are going to be indemnified for their losses. It is proposed that Samarco build a new Bento Rodrigues close to the original one.
the sludge of chemical waste from the iron-related production processes from Samarco. Other districts have been buried or partially destroyed as well, such as Bento Rodrigues (see above) and Barra Longa.
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Paracatu (de Baixo): Also called Paracatu, this small village is located 30 kilometres away from Mariana and is still part of its area. It has always been a small and simple district related to small-scale agriculture and dairy production. However, in the night of December 5th, 2015, due to the breach of Fundão Dam, it was completely destroyed, buried in 34
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Estrada Real: The title Estrada Real (literally Royal Road) was given to roads built and maintained by the Portuguese Crown in both Portugal itself and its overseas territories. Currently, in Brazil, it refers to a part of the main roads used to transport the gold extracted in Minas Gerais to the main ports in the old times, firstly the old road to Paraty and also the new one towards Rio de Janeiro, both beginning in Ouro Preto. Apart from that there is a third road leading to Diamantina, a city located further north which was a main settlement for the exploration of diamonds in the same period. Nowadays, the Estrada Real is an important tourist destination, as it is still well preserved and exhibits small totems all along the way. It is worth mentioning that a few months before the breach of Fundão Dam, Artur Sgambatti Monteiro, one of the authors, was in Bento Rodrigues travelling on the Estrada Real towards Diamantina. He used this as an opportunity to depict the region and also a bit of Bento Rodrigues. These narrations can be found in the book “Caminhos Geraes” by the author. 35
Boitatá: Boitatá, when translated from TupiGuarani, means literally fire snake (boi – snake, tatá fire). The term is used to designate, throughout Brazil, the phenomenon of different manifestations of ignis fatuus, and some mythical entities derived from it. In Brazilian folklore, Boitatá is a gigantic fire snake that protects the fields from those who set them on fire. 36
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About the Authors ARTUR SGAMBATTI MONTEIRO Artur is a painter and an environmental manager, who portrays everyday life and its dilemmas and believes that art is a key means to strengthening human relationships. He depicts the history, the land and its people with the use of traces and colours. His purpose is to add subtleness to our realities, making challenging contexts easier to grasp and more understandable for those far away. Building up a better present moment is also related to its nuances and subtleness.
VLADIMIR OSPINA RODRIGUEZ Vladimir has a degree in architecture and is also an illustrator. Vladimir endeavours, through his works in several foreign territories, an understanding of the various strategies of anthropization.
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TRACES OF A RIVER Travel Book
The Mariana tragedy, which led to the destruction of several lifes and villages as well as the entire Doce River, is presented here from a unique perspective. A few weeks after the occurrence Artur and Vladimir travelled the distances between the mouth of the Doce River and the disaster site recording through illustrations the life of the people, the environmental impacts, and their general impressions. Traces of a River is an account, and an affective mapping, of one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazil, and reminds us of the connection and responsibility we have in relation to the surrounding world. It is a tool to raise awareness and visibility of rare subtlety.
