On Wednesday, the minority Lula government faces another key vote in the chamber that will reduce the powers of the ministries of the environment and of Indigenous affairs.
Lula called an emergency cabinet meeting to discuss the dilemma, and called the speaker of the lower house, Arthur Lira, whom he plans to meet as well, to ensure the measure passes.
INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL SETBACKThe law passed on Tuesday would set a cut-off date for recognizing Indigenous land claims, establishing that they had to be occupied before Brazil's current Constitution was enacted in 1988.
Brazil's 1 million Indigenous peoples are guaranteed by the Constitution the right to live on ancestral lands.
After the bill passed, the minister of Indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara, said that the deputies who backed it would be "responsible for approving a bill that explicitly attacks the lives of Indigenous peoples in Brazil."
Persons:
Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Arthur Lira, Jair Bolsonaro, Bolsonaro, Sonia Guajajara, Lisandra Paraguassu, Ricardo Brito, Maria Carolina Marcello, Anthony Boadle, Matthew Lewis
Organizations:
Lawmakers, Liberal Party, Thomson
Locations:
BRASILIA, Congress, Sao Paulo, Brazil's, Brazil, Brasilia