Latin America Advisor 2023-06-14 – Inter-American Dialogue

LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR

A daily publication Of the dialogue

June 14, 2023

Will Brazil’s Actions Restrict Indigenous People’s Rights?

The lower house of Brazil’s Congress last month approved legislation to limit recognition of new Indigenous reservations. // File Photo: Agência Brasil.

Q

Brazil’s lower house of Congress approved a bill on May 30 that limits the recognition of new Indigenous reservations. The fast-tracked bill was passed amid pressure from Brazil’s powerful agricultural lobby, and it is seen as a setback for environmentalists and activists. It still needs approval from the Senate and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to become law. Later in the week, the country’s Senate approved legislation that strips power from the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, tasked with upholding Indigenous people’s rights. How likely is the bill to become law, and how would it affect Indigenous peoples in the country? What kind of reactions have the developments faced, and what do they mean in terms of Lula’s agenda?

A

Luiza Lima, spokesperson for Greenpeace Brazil: “The approval of Bill 490 by the lower house is the pinnacle of the efforts of the rural caucus in Brazil to disregard Indigenous rights in the country and force the opening of Indigenous peoples’ territories to agribusiness and other economic activities incapable of coexisting with the forest. It not only ignores the need for historical reparation to the native peoples expressed by Brazilian society in the country’s constitution, but it is also a direct attack on Indigenous peoples’ rights and livelihoods. In the 21st century, we cannot tolerate that a handful of lawmakers committed to an outdated way of thinking continue working to reverse the will of the majority of Brazilians. The rural caucus needs to understand that any attack on Indigenous rights is an attack on democracy. Now, Bill 490 will be analyzed by the Senate. The speaker of the house, Rodrigo Pacheco, promised he would…”

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