The World Briefly

June 02, 2023

Dating Borders

Brazil

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Brazilian lawmakers approved a contentious bill this week that opponents say threatens the land rights of Indigenous communities and gut environmental protections, NPR reported.

The draft law would include limits to the creation of new Indigenous reserves to lands that were only occupied by native peoples in 1988, which is also the year Brazil’s current constitution was laid down.

Indigenous leaders criticized the bill and blocked a major highway this week in protest, holding signs saying, “We existed before 1988.” Indigenous protesters also clashed with police, with some using bows and arrows against authorities.

Critics fear that the bill could prevent many Brazilian Indigenous tribes from returning to their lands. Many were expelled during the country’s military dictatorship, which ended in 1985, and didn’t return to their territories until years later.

Brazil has 764 Indigenous territories but more than 300 of them still lack official demarcation and are caught in legal limbo. These territories, primarily situated in the Amazon region, play a crucial role in safeguarding against deforestation.

Observers noted that lawmakers in the conservative-dominated lower house of Congress easily passed the bill, adding that the upper house is also expected to approve it.

The vote underscores the power of Brazil’s powerful agricultural lobby and could prove a challenge for leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who has vowed to protect Indigenous rights and reverse years of rainforest destruction.

Lula recognized six new Indigenous territories back in April and has created a new Ministry of Indigenous Peoples.

Its minister, Sonia Guajarara, called the new bill a “genocide against Indigenous peoples,” as well as an “attack on the environment.”

This story originally appeared in the June 02, 2023 newsletter, Seed to Stem.