Indigenous people protest in Brazilian capital to press land rights

Hundreds of indigenous people arrived in Brasilia on Monday for a 10-day protest camp to preserve their land rights and resist a government measure in Congress that would enable mining and oil development on their reserves.

 

Organizers hope to bring 7,000 individuals from 200 of Brazil’s 305 tribes to lobby Congress not to enact legislation proposed by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro that would allow commercial mining and agricultural on their protected territories.

 

‘We will not retreat,’ said Sonia Guajajara, president of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples (APIB), the country’s primary indigenous umbrella organisation, which represents the majority of Brazil’s 900,000 indigenous people.

Warriors with feathered headdresses danced chanting ritual songs as they set up tents on the grassy esplanade next to government buildings in central Brasilia, their bodies painted with the black and scarlet colours of Amazon fruit seeds.

 

Bolsonaro has said that indigenous peoples own too much land, preventing the country’s development, and has promised not to acknowledge any further reservation sites. The reservations, according to environmentalists, protect the rainforest from devastation.

 

According to Guajajara, 13 percent of Brazil’s land is protected indigenous reservation land, with 98 percent of that being in the Amazon. However, 400 indigenous communities are still fighting for recognition of their ancient lands.

 

Bill 191 is being pushed through the lower chamber of Congress by pro-government members who believe that it is necessary to collect potash for fertiliser for Brazil’s grain crops, which rely on imports that have been hampered by the Ukraine conflict.

 

The bill, which has the support of the powerful farm lobby, would also allow for the construction of hydroelectric dams on indigenous grounds.

 

APIB will fight to elect more indigenous individuals to Congress in this year’s general election, Guajajara announced during a press conference. At the moment, Congresswoman Joenia Wapichana is the lone indigenous lawmaker.

 

‘We need to make our voices heard in Congress,’ Guajajara stated.

 

Guajajara has announced that she will run for the PSOL, a left-wing political party, to represent Sao Paulo, Brazil’s largest city.