Lula da Silva meets with Indigenous in Brazil's Amazon, pledges lands
The Hindu
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressed some 2,000 Indigenous people who painted their faces, wore traditional feather headdresses and sang songs to welcome him on March 13 to the Raposa Serra do Sol region bordering Venezuela and Guyana.
On his first trip to Indigenous land in the Amazon rainforest since taking office, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva expressed support for creating new territories for those communities, but stopped short of announcing any demarcations.
Wearing white cap and dark shirt in the heat, Mr. Lula addressed some 2,000 Indigenous people who painted their faces, wore traditional feather headdresses and sang songs to welcome him on March 13 to the Raposa Serra do Sol region bordering Venezuela and Guyana.
He said he wants quick demarcation of their lands “before other people take over, invent false documents” to claim ownership rights. That has been a common occurence throughout Brazil's history, which prompted the start of demarcation processes over a half century ago.
“We need to quickly try to legalise every land whose (demarcation) studies are almost finished so the Indigenous can take the land that is theirs,” Mr. Lula said at the 52nd general assembly of the Indigenous peoples of the State of Roraima.
Yet Mr. Lula stopped short of actually announcing any new designations that are much anticipated by Indigenous people and rights activists. Many already had their hopes dashed that new demarcations would take place in the first 30 days of his administration, which began January 1.
Their movement has pressured Lula to demarcate 13 new Indigenous territories that have cleared all regulatory steps and require nothing more than Presidential approval to be official. Doing so would mark a sharp change in policy from the previous administration of Jair Bolsonaro, who did not demarcate any land for them during his Presidency.
Some of the territories pending a Presidential authorisation began their demarcation processes decades ago. Mr. Lula authorised the demarcation of Raposa Serra do Sol in 2005, during his first term as President. Different from other reserves in the Brazilian Amazon, Raposa Serra do Sol is mostly tropical savannah. It is home to 26,000 people from five different ethnicities.