Brazil
Indigenous Protected Areas: Lula acts by decree
President with a feathered crown: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (left) with the Kaiapo leader Raoni Metuktire. photo
© Eraldo Peres/AP/dpa
Brazil’s President Lula has created six indigenous territories – the first in four years. He is thus responding to demands from thousands of indigenous people.
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed decrees establishing indigenous protected areas in the South American country – the first since 2018. “Today I have the pleasure of signing the official approval of six indigenous territories,” Lula wrote at the end of an indigenous protest camp the capital Brasília on Twitter.
With a view to the zero deforestation strategy he has promised for the Brazilian Amazon by 2030, the left-wing politician announced that the government will work hard to demarcate as much indigenous land as possible. According to studies, indigenous people are considered the best “guardians of the forest”.
Around 6,000 indigenous people have attended the big annual meeting “Terra Livre” (Free Land) on the esplanade of the ministries in the government district in Brasília since Monday. They demonstrated against legislative projects that threaten indigenous peoples and called for the establishment of protected areas under the motto “The indigenous future is today. Without demarcation there is no democracy”.
The “anti-indigenous agenda” of the government of Lula’s predecessor Jair Bolsonaro included the “Marco Temporal”, which large landowners interpret in such a way that indigenous peoples can only claim land where they lived before the 1988 constitution. According to environmentalists, the rights of the indigenous people are curtailed.
In his previous terms of office (2003-2010), Lula was not considered a Green, but has now promised to strengthen environmental and climate protection as well as the rights of indigenous people.