The dispute over indigenous protected areas in Brazil continues. Congress wants to make it more difficult to designate protected areas. Indigenous Minister Guajajara speaks of “legally prescribed genocide”.
The Brazilian Congress wants to make the designation of indigenous protected areas more difficult. The House of Representatives voted 324 votes for a corresponding project, as the news portal “G1” reports. 131 MPs voted against it, with one abstention.
The controversial project dates back to the time of right-wing extremist President Jair Bolsonaro, who wanted to promote economic exploitation in the Amazon rainforest.
frustration among indigenous people
Indigenous Minister Sônia Guajajara spoke on Twitter of a “legally prescribed genocide”. It is a law that violates the Brazilian constitution and the rights of the indigenous population. She was “frustrated” that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not taking action.
Dispute over the interpretation of a thesis
The “Marco temporal” project has been a matter of debate since 2021. This is a controversial legal thesis that large landowners, for example, interpret in such a way that indigenous peoples can only claim land where they lived before the 1988 constitution. However, many indigenous peoples were expelled from their original land and would never have a chance to return.
The Supreme Court has been analyzing for years whether this interpretation of the law is constitutional. President Lula promised when he took office in January that this policy would be reversed. In April he signed decrees that designated indigenous protected areas for the first time since 2018.
The decree guarantees the indigenous people exclusive use of the natural resources in these areas. The land may not be sold, and mining is also prohibited. Overall, Brazil has 732 indigenous areas, which make up around 14 percent of the state territory.