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April-May, 1970
mind for aching, silent Joneliness -
loneliness broken only by exotic jungle
noises and infernal buzzing, biting
insects.
Overcoming the temptation to flee
back to civilization, you face the first
actual job: clearing enough land to
grow food for you and your family.
Your plot in Amazon territory will be
covered with thick, greeo, dense, dark,
clamp jungle - huge trees up to 250
feet tall. It is this jungle you have to
clear
in
order to grow food for you and
your family.
It can be done.
A jeUJ ht!Ve
done
it.
Amazonia ls the Problem
You, the dauntless pioneer, are now
faced with the same verdant labyrinth,
the same gargantuan problems explained
in last month's PLAJN TRUTH.
Could the great sprawliog green
jungles of Brazil (Amazonia) be con–
verted into yellow waving fields of
grain - into an agricultural paradise?
Could this vast emerald-green wilder–
ness produce enough to offset impend–
ing world famines?
On-the-spot investigations at Pucalpa
aod !quitos, Peru, plus interviews with
officials of Brazil's Ministry of the Inte–
rior in Rio de Janetro are extremely
educational, if somewhat disappointing
with respect to "breadbasket dreams."
During the investigation we reluc–
tantly reach our first conclusion:
Amazonia is a giant problem in itself.
There are virtually no roads, no reliable
transportation ( ex;cept for infrequent
ai r trips between Manaus and Belém),
no telegraph, no telephone commu–
nications! How can a jungle so inhos–
pitable be developed without "conquer–
ing" tbe geography - without trans–
portation - without communications?
We also learn that the ten million
dollars already allocated would build
precious few miles of road. Roads here
are exceptionally costly: they must go
tht·o11gh
dense growth which grows up
through pavement,
over
swampy areas
of mud and silt many feet tbick,
above
or across churning tivers. They must be
bui lt to withstand destructive floods
which occur every year! According to
Mr. José Wady Abuyaghi, personal
advisor to the Minister of the Interior,
the Brazilian government has only very
The
PLAIN TRUTH
limited financia! resources. He has said,
"We cannot accomplish much [in
developiog Amazonia] without signifi–
cant foreign financia! assistance."
Absolutcly true!
To fi.ght famine, to achieve massive
food production in Amazonia -
to
change the old ''green hell" of the
Spaniards into modero "gteen man–
sions" of literary fame - would require
bil/iom,
even
TRIUIONS O.F DO.LLARS,
even if the venture were possible. So
far, that money has not been forth–
coming. These financia! d ifficulties are
not mentioned in the original optimistíc
reports which start our investigation.
Science N ews,
speaking about money
needed for Amazonian research,
accurately reported: "No one seems
willing to spend the kind of money
27
The conm1ittee which has received
the most attention, and probably the
most crucial one for fi.ghting famine
ís the Superintendency of Amazoniao
Development (SUDAM) - the com–
mission specifically in charge of the
Amazon River basin. Besides coostruc–
tion projects in Belém, SUDAM has
opened up three federal territories
(Amapá, Rondonia and Roraima) while
planning two more (Acre and Río
Braoco). The three territories have,
by government estímate, a total of about
250,000 people hacking a living out of
the jungle. But even jf tJ1e government
estímate ís not exaggerated, this effort
barely begins to scratch the surface.
Many hundreds of thousands of square
miles are Jeft untouched. And that is
an unexpected problem we find:
lack
K
ing
tt>Opold Pholo
A hut built in a small clearing. The dense undergrowth makes clearing the
land an enormous task.
thís would take, just to build up
an inedible, unwearable, unsaleable
body of scientific knowledge" (April 5,
1969).
Brazil's officials, however - fully
aware of the untold, untapped potential
of Amazortia - are spending up to the
limits of their resources. The Brazilian
government has set up various commis–
sions called
mperinlmdencias
to oversee
and help finance development of far–
flung regions of Brazil's widely varie–
gated geography.
of
popt~lation
to open the jungle!
The Brazilian government is also
aware of the problems you, the pioneer,
face. Officials are doing everything pos–
sible - withi.n the limits of time and
money - to help you. We left you fac–
ing a veritable wall of brown-green
vines and emerald-colored trees reacb–
íng 250 feet into the blue Amazonian
sky - remember? Others who have
stayed here find their first harvests to
be fabulous. But here is a shocking dis–
covery! Three or four years later those