BRAZIL
Defending the Amazon
More than 4,000 indigenous people from hundreds of tribes across Brazil have traveled to the capital of Brasilia to protest against President Jair Bolsonaro’s moves to undermine indigenous rights and eliminate agencies tasked with improving their lives.
On Wednesday, indigenous communities began assembling hundreds of tents a stone’s throw from the National Congress in the lead-up to this year’s Free Land Camp, the country’s largest gathering of indigenous people, Al Jazeera reported.
Specifically, the Articulation of the Indigenous People of Brazil (APIB), the main organization behind the annual event, called attention to Bolsonaro’s move to transfer land demarcation and environmental licensing to the Ministry of Agriculture – seen as empowering agribusiness at the expense of indigenous rights.
A week before the event, Bolsonaro reiterated his frequent call for the opening of the Amazon region for commercial exploitation, while APIB and other indigenous groups say his rhetoric has emboldened farmers and companies to violate the existing rules and contributed to an uptick in violence.
Now, special police have been deployed to maintain order, though organizers say the event has been happening peacefully for 15 years.
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