![]() ![]() Indigenous land rights are enshrined in Brazil’s Constitution, but the government has moved at a snail’s pace over the last three decades to process claims. The measure, known as the “Milestone Thesis,” or “Marco Temporal” in Portuguese, would invalidate the land claims of Indigenous groups that did not physically occupy the territory on the day the new constitution was signed in 1988, ignoring centuries of genocidal oppression that forced many tribes to flee their ancestral homes. “The struggle of Indigenous peoples is a struggle for the future of humanity.” “It is one of the most important judgments in history,” said APIB leader Sônia Guajajara, in a livestreamed event last Thursday. Under Bolsonaro, everything has gone from bad to worse.įor weeks, organizers have been primarily focused on the Supreme Court decision that could substantially reduce constitutionally protected Indigenous territories. Meanwhile, Congress has been voting on one bill after another that would undo the hard-fought protections written into the 1988 constitution. Violent attacks are on the rise and environmental degradation is making traditional ways of life less tenable. Their ancestral lands are increasingly threatened by major agricultural infrastructure projects and violent land thieves aided by government agencies. “Evil is the agribusiness invading our territories.”īrazil’s Indigenous people have no shortage of reasons to protest. “We know what evil is,” said one speaker to applause. Evil is the agribusiness invading our territories.” Tech-savvy Indigenous influencers and journalists livestreamed the proceedings on social media, engulfed in plumes of red dust. To participate, delegates from the most far-flung corners of Brazil’s massive expanses spent as many as three days on packed buses that navigated washed-out dirt roads, traveling under the threat of ambushes from paramilitary gangs.īefore rousing speeches by movement leaders and allies could begin on the main stage, groups of Xikrin, Munduruku, Xukuru, and others dressed in full ceremonial regalia and performed traditional dances and songs for the crowd. The encampment sat on a dusty patch of land in the capital, less than a mile up the main promenade from Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace. More than 6,000 representatives of 176 Indigenous groups pitched tents and lashed together bamboo shelters for seven days of protest and cultural exchange. Protestors hold a banner that reads “Our history doesn’t begin in 1988”, the year the Constitution was signed into law, “we have resisted for more than 12,000 years.” Indigenous Brazilians protest against President Jair Bolsonaro, holding a sign which reads, “Bolsonaro, get out,” at the Struggle For Life encampment in Brasília, Brazil, on Aug. The government doesn’t suffer,” said Pasyma Panará, president of the Iakiô Association in the Xingu region of the Amazon. Closely aligned with the powerful agribusiness lobby, the government has also pushed forward a slew of consequential bills in Congress that, if passed, would be a death sentence for many of Brazil’s Indigenous communities and, critics warn, the entire Amazon rainforest. Since 2019, Bolsonaro has used his executive authority to aggressively attack Indigenous rights, slash environmental protections, and cripple relevant law enforcement efforts - moves that have drawn international condemnation. One right-wing lawmaker, whose fortune comes from agriculture, said he and his colleagues lobbied the justices to further delay the ruling so that Congress has time to pass measures that would strip Indigenous land rights through legislation instead of the courts. So that’s why we’re here to fight.”ĪPIB expected the Supreme Court would strike down a challenge to Indigenous land claims during its protest, but the court postponed the judgment to next week after one vote was cast in favor of Indigenous rights. ![]() “The fight against Bolsonaro extends far beyond the borders of Brazil.” “We are the ones suffering. ![]() “Our struggle takes as its target all governments that are complicit in Bolsonaro’s campaign of genocide, all corporations that seek to profit from it,” APIB said in a joint statement with Progressive International, a left-wing coalition that sent a delegation to survey the situation. The umbrella group Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, or APIB, put together the protests as part of the weeklong “Struggle for Life” protest in the capital, Brasília, in anticipation of a decision from the Supreme Court that could invalidate Indigenous land claims. Indigenous communities in Brazil organized the largest-ever native protests to block what they described as “a declaration of extermination” from lawmakers representing agribusiness, mining, and logging interests aligned with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. ![]()
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