Protests as Brazil lower house passes bill limiting tribal land demarcation

Brazil's lower house of Congress has approved a bill to limit the recognition of new Indigenous reservations, a decision seen by environmentalists and human rights advocates as a setback after intense pressure from the farm lobby.

By 283 votes to 155, the approval comes after Indigenous groups blocked a highway and burned tires to protest the measures earlier on Tuesday.

Outside Sao Paulo, Brazil's largest city, demonstrators blocked a major motorway with flaming tires and used bows and arrows to confront police, who dispersed them with tear gas.

Indigenous groups from across the country planned a week of protests outside Congress in the capital Brasilia.

Bill 490 would not affect currently recognised reservations, but may impact hundreds of territories under evaluation.

The lower house fast-tracked the bill after pressure from Brazil's powerful agricultural lobby.

Establishing a reservation gives Indigenous communities legal protections that can deter illegal loggers and wildcat gold miners from land invasions.

Those surged under far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, who called for commercial agriculture and mining even on recognised reservations.

Indigenous leaders want President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who defeated Bolsonaro in last year's election, to protect some 300 territories mapped out years ago but not formally recognised.

They reject the premise of the bill, arguing they have the right to their original territories, regardless of the status of their occupation in 1988.

'War against Indigenous peoples'

There are a total of 764 Indigenous territories in Brazil, but around a third of them have not yet been demarcated, according to figures from the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples [FUNAI].

Lula recognised six new territories in April.

The Chamber of Deputies vote sparked protests in Brazil, including in Manaus, the largest city in the Amazon region.

It also drew the attention of international NGOs and activists, including American actors Leonardo Di Caprio and Mark Ruffalo.

The government of Brazil "is being attacked by agribusiness," Ruffalo tweeted ahead of the debate.

"There is a war against Indigenous peoples and forests. Our planet is at risk."

Brazil's Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, said ON Tuesday that the bill "is a genocide against Indigenous peoples, but also an attack on the environment."

She added that she would keep fighting as the bill heads to the Senate.

___

Source: TRT