Indigenous leaders from different ethnic groups participated, this Thursday (27th), in Brasília, in a seminar promoted by the Commission on the Amazon and on Original and Traditional Peoples of the Chamber of Deputies. The so-called 1st Seminar on Indigenous Peoples at the National Congress brought together leaders and representatives of civil society organizations in the context of the 19th edition of the Free Land Camp (ATL), which will end this Friday (28), in the federal capital, with the presence of thousands of indigenous peoples from all regions of the country. The central point of the debates was the criticism of the advancement of bills that hinder the demarcation of lands, such as PL 490/2007. The measure, which is ready to be voted in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies, creates the so-called temporal framework, establishing that the places occupied by traditional peoples until October 5, 1988, the date of promulgation of the Constitution, will be considered indigenous lands. . The Magna Carta does not provide for this framework as a criterion, since indigenous peoples are original people who were present in the country long before European colonization. Currently, the issue is also being analyzed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which will decide, later this year, whether the thesis of the timeframe is valid or not. “It is important that this House [Câmara dos Deputados] don’t wear clothes [Pedro Álvares] Cabral in the 21st Century”, said federal deputy Célia Xabriaká (PSOL-MG), coordinator of the commission and responsible for holding the seminar. Rights One of the most important presences was that of chief Raoni Metuktire, leader of the Caiapó ethnic group, in Mato Grosso who is 93 years old. “I have been defending our rights for some time to guarantee the demarcation of indigenous lands, for people to maintain our customs and traditions. Non-indigenous people arrived here, you know his name, Cabral… he arrived here with his people and killed our ancestors. And, today, we are here for our resistance. You who are at the forefront fighting for your people must unite to defend our lands. The white leaders don’t like our rights,” he declared to an audience made up of hundreds of indigenous people taking part in the encampment, set up on the Esplanada dos Ministérios. With the theme “The indigenous future is today. Without demarcation there is no democracy”, the 19th edition of Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL 2023) reinforces the need to create new territorial spaces intended for exclusive indigenous use and guarantee the protection of areas already approved. In Brazil, there are 305 indigenous ethnic groups identified by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) , in the 2010 Demographic Census. In addition to PL 490, which creates the timeframe, other legislative initiatives concern indigenous peoples, such as PL 191/2020, which authorizes mining on indigenous lands, PL 6299/2002, which makes the use of of pesticides, PL 2159/2021, which eases the need for environmental licensing, and bills 2633/2020 and 510/2021, which could facilitate land grabbing on public lands Collective struggle “They continue, through laws, trying to colonize us. My message is that our fight is collective because we don’t fight alone. We will not accept these bills that want to end our rights and our territories. There is no need to talk about democracy and climate justice without our territories. Never, again, a Brazil without us”, emphasized Txai Suruí, a Brazilian indigenous activist recognized abroad. She is coordinator of the Indigenous Youth Movement. We carry out the most important mission for the planet in the biggest crisis we are experiencing, which is the climate crisis, we protect the forests, we protect life with our lives”, he added. For the indigenous leader Maíra Pankararu, member of the Amnesty Commission, sectors linked to agribusiness use expressions with supposedly environmentalist tones to try to advance with projects that threaten traditional territories and the environment. “There are expressions such as sustainable mining and sustainable use of soil and natural resources in indigenous lands. But there is no such thing as sustainable mining. How can they talk about sustainable economic use of indigenous lands without consulting indigenous peoples?” Indigenous peoples has become an agenda of global importance, in the context of tackling climate change. She stressed that it is essential that economic sectors, including agribusiness, understand that countries that buy products from Brazil are increasingly inspecting the origin of production.” Countries and economic blocs, such as the European Union, are deciding that they no longer want to buy products associated with deforestation. And Brazil, as a nation with large forest areas, is one of the countries with the greatest potential to supply the world with food in adequate and sustainable production conditions”, he noted. This Friday, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva should visit the Terra Livre Camp, which is expected to sign the demarcation of new indigenous lands, which have been paralyzed for years in the country.
Agência Brasil
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