Weakened Brazilian bishop ends hunger strike after negotiations

Published: 2005-10-07

SAO PAULO, Brazil (CNS) -- Brazilian Bishop Luis Cappio, weakened and suffering from memory lapses and dizziness, ended his 11-day hunger strike to protest government plans to divert some of the water from the Sao Francisco River to irrigate the arid northeastern region of the country. The announcement of the end of the hunger strike came after five hours of negotiations between Brazil's Institutional Relations Minister Jacques Wagner and Bishop Cappio, 59. The government agreed to further discuss the project with Brazilians before starting the operation; continue and intensify efforts to revitalize the Sao Francisco River by trying to approve legislation that would assure annual investments of approximately $133 million in the revitalization of the river; and set up a meeting between Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Bishop Cappio as soon as the bishop has fully recovered his health.

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