INTERVIEW
April 9 was a decisive day for representatives of the 34 organizations that make up the Amazonas Movement Against Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents and Corruption (Mapec) in the pressure for the opening of the CPI on Pedophilia in the Legislative Assembly of Amazonas (Aleam). According to the psychologist and member of Mapec, Alberto Jorge Silva (pictured above), the representatives protested and partially closed the main access road to the Casa’s headquarters.
According to him, the president and deputy Josué Neto (PSD) refused to receive the movement’s representatives to talk about the delay in opening the CPI, which would be installed after the October 3 elections, as the ruling base wanted.
“At the end of the day, Josué Neto ended up announcing the opening of the commission to investigate crimes of sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and pedophilia in all municipalities in Amazonas”, said Silva.
Alberto Jorge Silva is also general coordinator of Aratrama (Amazonian Articulation of Traditional Peoples of African Matrix) and state councilor for Sustainable Development and Environment of Traditional Peoples and Communities of Amazonas. He says, in this interview with the agency Real Amazon as the movement will accompany the investigation of state deputies.
What is Mapec’s expectation in the face of the maneuvers that the deputies made to not install the CPI on Pedophilia in the Legislative Assembly?
We look at this spurious maneuver on the part of Aleam with great concern. We are aware that it was through sheer pressure from the 34 Civil Society Organizations that we formed the Amazonas Movement Against the Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents and Corruption (Mapec-AM), at a time when we were treated without the slightest respect by the president of Aleam. , deputy Josué Neto. He didn’t want to talk to us, even though he invited us to his office, and kept us waiting for more than three hours, claiming that he only talked to whoever he wanted.
In light of this response we made a manifesto on Wednesday (April 9th). For three hours on Avenida Recife, in front of Aleam, we partially stopped the already chaotic traffic, which generated a “honk” from the drivers.
We were called to have a conversation with deputy Josué Neto, who once again was rude, leaving the room when the speeches of representatives of Social Movements did not please him. However, our message was given: either the deputies would immediately install the CPI or we would continue to paralyze traffic. That same day, the CPI was installed, however within the parameters imposed by them.
What does Mapec have to say about the participation in the CPI on Pedophilia of deputies Abdala Fraxe and Ricardo Nicolau, both accused in criminal proceedings?
We don’t like these names and the position they hold. How to trust someone who from the beginning was against the CPI? But what can the movement do if they are backed by the House’s bylaws? It only remains for us to closely monitor each step of the CPI. The game is very dirty. Proof of this are the slanders and insults against state deputy Luiz Castro (PPS). They are committing real absurdities, inventing things without the slightest provenance.
The shameless way in which certain deputies use the rostrum to practice such villainy is even nauseating. We are aware that the fight is just beginning, that we will need to have a lot of courage and determination to not let this thing end in the same way as other CPIs.
We know that each of the leaders is at serious risk of being vilified left and right, that our security is threatened, but that is the price of militancy. It is common sense that it is not just pedophilia that is at stake, it is a whole huge scheme of dominant corruption that is obsequiously silencing many people who could in fact have put an end to these crimes.
How do you analyze the silence of the authorities and civil society entities in relation to crimes against children and adolescents in Amazonas?
We see that there is an obsequious silence from several important entities in the State. Political parties in almost their entirety are being indifferent. A glaring example of this is the PC do B. Senator Vanessa Grazziotin is mute and silent. Because? Senator Eduardo Braga, PMDB, leader of the Government in the Senate is one who walked arm in arm with Adail Pinheiro and has him as a political ally.
Senator Alfredo Nascimento (PR) leads the same way. Several federal deputies such as Átila Lins (PSD) and Sabino Castelo Branco (PTB) who even made speeches announcing the victorious return of Adail Pinheiro to the mayor of Coari. What’s behind all this support? From all this obsequious silence? It can only be something very dirty, corrupt, because they wouldn’t expose themselves like that for nothing.
There is the silence of organizations such as UNICEF, the CDL (Chamber of Store Managers), Fieam (Federation of Industries of the State of Amazonas), the Order of Evangelical Ministers of Amazonas, the work of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) is to almost zero. The position of the Archdiocese of Manaus itself is very timid. Everyone condemns with a small mouth, but they don’t put themselves publicly, they’re not waving the flag. The atmosphere is silent. I think that at the moment when the judiciary of Amazonas became corrupt, and whoever claims this is the CNJ, many people became cowardly or came to the conclusion that it is useless to fight.
How will Mapec work so that children and adolescents are not corrupted and threatened by the accused?
We will have to evaluate this very carefully. Next week we will have a careful evaluation meeting to see the steps we need to take. I repeat that we are fighting a corrupt giant, who has a lot of money, strength, violence and power.
Alberto Jorge and Lucimar Weil (from Cedeca) at the street protest (Photo: personal archive)
In 2004, former governor Omar Aziz (PSD) was exonerated by the Congressional CPI and the Aleam CPI. According to the then senator Arthur Virgílio Neto (PSDB), a brother would be responsible for the abuse of a girl. Only this brother was never investigated.
Here in this land, those who have money, political strength and media power can do anything. There are many things that have never and will never reach the public knowledge. There are many schemes and rotten things that, maybe 50 years from now, will come to light, but for now they will remain silent or obsequious oblivion. This case involving the Aziz is something that requires an answer, that Omar, being a man who wants to be a senator of the Republic, has a duty to want the thing well explained, investigated, so that his family name is not under suspicion in the meantime. is not well clarified. Even so that he can do a job with dignity in the Federal Senate. But there is honor and honor!
For some, having an unpunished case of pedophilia in the family is something that can be forgotten, for others it is not. Everything will depend on what is meant by honor, ethics, morals.
I feel that in the Amazon, corruption has become something politically cultural, the political collusion is the keynote. The lack of respect for self and others is total. In fact, we lack good politicians and the majority, so far, has shown no shame in their faces, they sent ethics and morals to the balatal (as the ancients said) a long time ago.
I regret to say that I stopped believing in Arthur Virgílio Neto (PSDB-AM) as an example of ethical politics a long time ago, in no way different from professional politicians from other parties. His methods speak for themselves. I voted for him for mayor and campaigned on his behalf in protest against Vanessa Grazziotin, who tore her political life story apart by subjecting herself to the spurious game of the Manaus municipal election. I see the exchange of votes that almost a hundred percent of Amazonian politicians do with evangelical churches.
As well as Arthur is Eduardo Braga, Omar Aziz, Vanessa Grazziotin among others. They hurt the secularity of the State as if that were the most common thing in the world, in the most shameless way. This is just a small example.
The maxim is increasingly confirmed that in politics there are no friends who do not become enemies and there are no enemies who cannot condone. What counts is the vote. But I don’t think that this time, with the CPI on Pedophilia closely monitored by the Social Movements, we will be left without effective results. There are politicians and business communication groups that are killing each other, publicly destroying each other and this promises to continue for a long time and we are going to bet that this fight will bring to light new concrete data from this sea of mud.
Pedophilia is just the visible tip of this iceberg. It will certainly be a great test for Social Movements committed to the truth. Frankly, I would not be able to answer how many Social Movement leaders will be able to remain coherent with the fight flag that we are holding, but it is necessary to try.
Now it’s time to wait for the People to wake up and stop prostituting themselves for crumbs. If Adail Pinheiro got where he did it is because the people of Coari allowed themselves to be bought for crumbs, prostituted themselves in exchange for pennies left over from the millions owed to them on account of oil royalties.
It’s time for the people of Amazonas to wake up and put an end to this infamous oligarchy that has been in power for decades, I just don’t believe it will happen now in 2014.
