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Today we celebrate another critical victory for Indigenous rights in Brazil!
Unwilling to accept the recent Supreme Court decision to strike down the nefarious “Marco Temporal” maneuver – which sought to strip land rights from Indigenous communities – agribusiness and right-wing forces in Brazil’s legislature passed a law attempting to invalidate those rights and once again steal land from Brazil’s Indigenous peoples. But President Lula vetoed this law late Friday and sent a clear message that Indigenous rights will be protected.
After weeks of national and international pressure, Lula vetoed key parts of Bill 2903, which attempted to reimpose the “Marco Temporal” thesis. He also vetoed sections of the law allowing mining, road construction, and GMO agriculture on Indigenous lands.
As Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples, explains:
“Lula also vetoed the attempt to abolish the Indigenous right to Free Prior and Informed Consultation, the section of the law that made it easier to intrude upon the territories of isolated Indigenous peoples, as well as the article that would have prohibited the expansion of Indigenous lands that are already demarcated. But the essential thing is that the president’s vetoes guarantee the protection of Indigenous land rights.”
Yet the risks to Brazil’s Indigenous peoples and their rights are still immense. The agribusiness caucus of Brazil’s congress will be working furiously this week to override these vetoes and push forward even more extreme legislation. Amazon Watch will continue to work closely with our partners in Brazil’s Indigenous movement to challenge the forces bent on Amazon destruction.
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