Brazilian Indians freed four employees of the world's leading iron ore miner on Thursday, two days after they were seized to press demands for better public health care, a company spokesman said according to Reuters. The Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) spokesman said the hostages were released in good health after talks between the National Indian Agency (FUNAI) and Indians from the Guajajara tribe. FUNAI officials had proposed that the Indians travel to Brasilia to negotiate directly with the president of the National Health Foundation (FUNASA), which provides medical services for Indians. On Tuesday, the Indians blocked a railway line linking CVRD's big iron ore mines at Carajas in the northern state of Para to a port at Sao Luis in Maranhao state in northeast Brazil. In November, Indians invaded a town near Carajas threatening to paralyze production, and in early December they blocked an iron ore export railway line in central Minas Gerais state operated by CVRD. In both cases, they withdrew after a few days of talks. --SP 22 58 Local Time 19 58 GMT
