AFP
The Brazilian Congress eliminates Lula’s veto that protected indigenous lands
The Brazilian Congress restored key articles of a project that limits the rights of indigenous people over their ancestral lands, by eliminating this Thursday the veto of the leftist president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. With a majority of votes of 321 deputies and 53 senators, the Parliament, predominantly conservative, rejected the Executive’s objections to the thesis of the “temporary framework”, the core of a law that regulates the demarcation of indigenous lands approved in September. Lula, a declared defender of indigenous causes, vetoed some sections in October of the text, including the “time frame”. Defended by the powerful agribusiness, this thesis only recognizes the right of the indigenous people, who total 1.7 million of the 203 million inhabitants of Brazil, to claim the territories they occupied in 1988, when the Constitution was promulgated.But it is rejected by the aboriginal communities with the argument that many indigenous peoples were expelled throughout history from their ancestral territories, especially during the military dictatorship (1964-1985).The Minister of Peoples Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, regretted the decision: “It is absurd that while the world already recognizes indigenous peoples and their territories as one of the last alternatives to contain the climate crisis, Congress acts contrary,” she said in a video broadcast on their social networks. Many scientists consider that indigenous reserves are barriers against deforestation and, therefore, key in the fight against global warming. The ministry led by Guajajara will turn to the General Counsel of the Union (AGU) to present an action in the Supreme Court Federal Court (STF), and reaffirm the “unconstitutionality” of the “temporary framework.” The country’s highest court has already declared this thesis unconstitutional last September. The Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) will also go to the STF, a source from the organization told AFP. “The time frame rewards the thief of indigenous lands “, deplored the indigenous representative Celia cabinet of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022). According to data from Funai, a government entity for the defense of indigenous populations, the reserves occupy 13.75% of the country’s territory. Since he assumed his third term, in January, Lula ordered the demarcation of eight new reserves, in contrast to Bolsonaro, who kept his promise of not homologating a “centimeter” of land during his mandate.rsr/app/gm/mls/gm
2023-12-15 05:09:49
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