{"id":193704,"date":"2021-08-30T12:00:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T11:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=193704"},"modified":"2025-01-10T15:06:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T15:06:04","slug":"brazils-indigenous-groups-mount-unprecedented-protest-against-destruction-of-the-amazon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2021\/08\/brazils-indigenous-groups-mount-unprecedented-protest-against-destruction-of-the-amazon\/","title":{"rendered":"Brazil\u2019s Indigenous Groups Mount Unprecedented Protest against Destruction of the Amazon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Brazil\u2019s largest-ever Indigenous protest came amid efforts by Pres. Jair Bolsonaro and his allies to pave the way for industry in the Amazon.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Indigenous Brazilians protest against President Jair Bolsonaro at the Struggle For Life encampment in Bras\u00edlia, Brazil, on Aug. 25, 2021. Photo: Antonio Molina\/Sipa USA via AP<\/p><\/div>\n

28 Aug 2021 – <\/em>Indigenous communities in Brazil organized the largest-ever native protests to block what they described as \u201ca declaration of extermination\u201d from lawmakers representing agribusiness, mining, and logging interests aligned with far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n

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The umbrella group Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil<\/a>, or APIB, put together the protests as part of the weeklong \u201cStruggle for Life\u201d protest in the capital, Bras\u00edlia, in anticipation of a decision from the Supreme Court that could invalidate Indigenous land claims.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur struggle takes as its target all governments that are complicit in Bolsonaro\u2019s campaign of genocide, all corporations that seek to profit from it,\u201d APIB said in a joint statement with Progressive International<\/a>, a left-wing coalition that sent a delegation to survey the situation. \u201cThe fight against Bolsonaro extends far beyond the borders of Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe are the ones suffering. The government doesn\u2019t suffer. So that\u2019s why we\u2019re here to fight.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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APIB expected the Supreme Court would strike down a challenge to Indigenous land claims during\u00a0its protest, but the court postponed the judgment to next\u00a0week after one vote was cast in favor of Indigenous rights. One right-wing lawmaker, whose fortune comes from agriculture, said<\/a> he and his colleagues lobbied the justices to further delay the ruling so that Congress has time to pass measures that would strip Indigenous land rights through legislation instead of the\u00a0courts.<\/p>\n

Since 2019, Bolsonaro has used his executive authority to aggressively attack<\/a>\u00a0Indigenous rights, slash environmental protections, and cripple relevant law enforcement efforts \u2014 moves that have drawn international<\/a> condemnation<\/a>. Closely aligned with the powerful agribusiness lobby, the government has also pushed forward a slew of consequential bills in Congress that, if passed, would be a death sentence for many of Brazil\u2019s Indigenous communities<\/a> and, critics warn, the entire Amazon rainforest.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the ones suffering. The government doesn\u2019t suffer,\u201d said Pasyma Panar\u00e1, president of the Iaki\u00f4 Association in the Xingu region of the Amazon. \u201cSo that\u2019s why we\u2019re here to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The delegation from Progressive International included a member of the Spanish parliament, Indigenous leaders, labor activists, and two U.S. congressional staffers who were participating in a personal capacity. The group traveled to Bras\u00edlia and the Amazonian cities of Bel\u00e9m and Santar\u00e9m for a week of meetings with Brazilian politicians and environmentalists and groups representing Indigenous communities, labor, and landless peasants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis delegation aims to bring the eyes of the world to Brazil,\u201d David Adler, general coordinator of Progressive International, told The Intercept. \u201cWe are here to develop a common strategy to confront the crises that are facing Brazil.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Indigenous Brazilians protest against President Jair Bolsonaro, holding a sign which reads, \u201cBolsonaro, get out,\u201d at the Struggle For Life encampment in Bras\u00edlia, Brazil, on Aug. 26, 2021. Protestors hold a banner that reads \u201cOur history doesn\u2019t begin in 1988\u201d, the year the Constitution was signed into law, \u201cwe have resisted for more than 12,000 years.\u201d Photo: Andrew Fishman<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Struggle for Life<\/h3>\n

More than\u00a06,000 representatives of 176 Indigenous\u00a0groups pitched tents and lashed together bamboo shelters for seven days of protest and cultural exchange. The encampment sat on a dusty patch of land in the capital, less than a mile up the main promenade from Congress, the Supreme Court, and the presidential palace.<\/p>\n

To participate, delegates from the most far-flung corners of Brazil\u2019s massive expanses spent as many as three days on packed buses that navigated washed-out dirt roads, traveling under the threat of ambushes from paramilitary gangs.<\/p>\n

Before rousing speeches by movement leaders and allies could begin on the main stage, groups of Xikrin, Munduruku, Xukuru, and others dressed in full ceremonial regalia and performed traditional dances and songs for the crowd. Tech-savvy Indigenous influencers and journalists livestreamed the proceedings on social media, engulfed in plumes of red dust.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe know what evil is. Evil is the agribusiness invading our territories.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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\u201cWe know what evil is,\u201d said one speaker to applause. \u201cEvil is the agribusiness invading our territories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brazil\u2019s Indigenous people have no shortage of reasons to protest. Their ancestral lands are increasingly threatened by major agricultural infrastructure projects and violent land thieves aided by government agencies. Violent attacks<\/a> are on the rise and environmental degradation is making traditional ways of life less tenable.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Congress has been voting on one bill after another that would undo the hard-fought protections written into the 1988 constitution. Under Bolsonaro, everything has gone from bad to worse.<\/p>\n

For weeks, organizers have been primarily focused on the Supreme Court decision that could substantially reduce constitutionally protected Indigenous territories. \u201cIt is one of the most important judgments in history,\u201d said APIB leader S\u00f4nia Guajajara, in a livestreamed event last Thursday. \u201cThe struggle of Indigenous peoples is a struggle for the future of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The measure, known as the \u201cMilestone Thesis,\u201d or \u201cMarco Temporal\u201d in Portuguese, would invalidate the land claims of Indigenous groups that did not physically occupy the territory on the day the new constitution was signed in 1988, ignoring centuries of genocidal oppression that forced many tribes to flee their ancestral homes.<\/p>\n

Indigenous land rights are enshrined in Brazil\u2019s Constitution, but the government has moved at a snail\u2019s pace over the last three decades to process claims. Meanwhile, Brazil\u2019s agribusiness, mining, and lumber industries<\/a>, with their international<\/a> backers<\/a>, have their eyes on many of the vast tracts of land, mostly located in the Amazon, that are claimed by natives. The business interests have been chipping away at the protections by any means necessary in the courts, in Congress, and on the ground.<\/p>\n

Illegal invasions into Indigenous lands by violent, heavily armed groups have been on the rise<\/a> in recent years. Criminal groups have been emboldened by Bolsonaro, who campaigned<\/a> on the promise that, if elected president, \u201cthere won\u2019t be a centimeter demarcated for Indigenous reserves\u201d and has made racist, genocidal comments<\/a> about Indigenous peoples throughout<\/a> his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Marco Temporal represents for us, Indigenous peoples, a declaration of extermination,\u201d said Eloy Terena<\/a>, a lawyer and Indigenous rights activist, during an event last Thursday. Terena pointed out that many of Brazil\u2019s 114<\/a> uncontacted tribes, which rely on government protection, live in territories that could be threatened if the Marco Temporal legal thesis is upheld.<\/p>\n

Fight for Representation<\/h3>\n

The only way to put the brakes on the tractors that are plowing through the Amazon, Rep. Jo\u00eania Wapichana told The Intercept, is a \u201cpolitical renewal.\u201d Indigenous people and their allies must \u201cattain the majority within Congress,\u201d she said, something that has never happened. \u201cMaybe that way they might think twice before putting forward a proposal to reduce Indigenous rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wapichana, 47, is Brazil\u2019s first female Indigenous lawyer and member of Congress. She is currently the country\u2019s sole Indigenous representative. At the \u201cStruggle for Life\u201d protest, she got the rockstar treatment: Wherever she went, adoring fans lined up to snag selfies.<\/p>\n

In a meeting with a dozen leaders from some of Brazil\u2019s hardest-hit Indigenous communities, a Progressive International delegate asked which politicians they considered solid allies. The group hesitated to respond, whispering among themselves until one of them spoke up: \u201cRep. Jo\u00eania has fought alongside us a lot,\u201d one Indigenous leader said, going on to name a handful of nongovernmental organizations. None of them were from Wapichana\u2019s state of Roraima. Any other names? This time the answer was quick: \u201cNo, not that I remember.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAgribusiness not only buys advertising, it also buys the editorial line and influences news coverage.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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The Mixed Parliamentary Front <\/a>in Defense of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, launched in 2019 by Wapichana, is comprised of 237 of Brazil\u2019s 594 members of Congress. But during the first four days of the protest, only two federal elected representatives stepped foot on the protest\u2019s main stage and only a handful visited the encampment. No major presidential hopefuls or prominent government officials attended.<\/p>\n

In a change from recent Indigenous protests \u2014 which ended in violent repression \u2014 police kept their distance. Coverage from major national news outlets has also been hard to come by. On Wednesday, APIB\u2019s executive coordinator Dinamam Tux\u00e1 lamented to The Intercept that none of the three main newspapers in Brazil \u2014 which rely on agribusiness advertising<\/a> \u2014 had yet run a cover story on the historic protest. \u201cAgribusiness not only buys advertising,\u201d he said, \u201cit also buys the editorial line and influences news coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Indigenous Brazilians sing while protesting outside of the Supreme Court in Bras\u00edlia, Brazil, on Aug. 26, 2021, as they await an important ruling from the court. They are among 6,000 people who came to the capital in opposition to measures that would dramatically roll back Indigenous territorial rights. Photo: Andrew Fishman<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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International Solidarity<\/h3>\n

Even if the Marco Temporal is defeated in the Supreme Court, dozens of other proposals and government actions threaten Indigenous lands and serve to push the Amazon rainforest<\/a> closer to a deforestation<\/a> \u201ctipping point<\/a>.\u201d The result would be an irrevocable collapse of the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Leading scientists believe<\/a> that the tipping point will come at 20 to 25 percent deforestation, causing the lush Amazon to dry up and turn into a savanna, provoking catastrophic carbon emissions and severe droughts throughout the continent. Eighteen percent<\/a> of the Amazon has already been cut down and the rate of destruction has only increased<\/a> under Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cOur lives are at risk and we are asking for help,\u201d Auric\u00e9lia Arapium, a native leader from the Tapaj\u00f3s region, told the Progressive International delegation during a meeting at the encampment on Monday. \u201cWe no longer have anyone to turn to in Brazil. That\u2019s why we have approached international organizations, so that our rights, which are being threatened, are preserved.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a press conference later that day, Progressive International announced that it plans to work with partners around the globe to launch a boycott of foreign companies responsible for the destruction of the Amazon and the trampling of Indigenous rights. The investment giant Blackstone<\/a> and the private agricultural conglomerate Cargill<\/a> are at the top of their list.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to look at the corporations that are fueling this and the U.S. and international foreign policy that\u2019s enabling these corporations,\u201d said Nick Estes<\/a>, a professor at the University of New Mexico, a Progressive International delegate, and a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe practices of these corporations like Cargill are fundamentally racist,\u201d said Estes, who has contributed<\/a> to The Intercept. \u201cIf more people understood how much Indigenous blood, how much Black blood, how much blood from Brazilians living on the land is spilt just for them to have a cheeseburger, I think there would be much more outrage.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Andrew Fishman<\/em><\/a> – andrewdfishman@\u200bgmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Go to Original – theintercept.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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