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☆ Brazil's Lula vetoes bill restricting Indigenous land claims
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"The president vetoed everything that was unconstitutional and not consistent with our Indigenous peoples policy," his Institutional Relations Minister Alexandre Padilha announced. "The important thing is that Indigenous rights are guaranteed by the veto," she said at a news conference with Padilha after a meeting with Lula to decide the matter. Indigenous communities across the country claim land that farmers have settled and developed, in some cases for decades. Farmers have said the bill would ensure greater legal security of their land ownership, curtailing land conflicts. Minister Guajajara responded in an interview with Reuters that it would undermine the ancestral land rights of Indigenous people and threaten their way of life, and she urged Lula to veto it completely.

Persons: Sonia Guajajara, Adriano Machado, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Alexandre Padilha, Brazil's, Lula, Guajajara, Anthony Boadle, David Gregorio, Richard Chang Organizations: Indigenous, National, REUTERS, Rights, Institutional, Padilha, Farmers, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Brasilia, Brazil, Rights BRASILIA

☆ Brazil touts climate credentials as Amazon deforestation falls — but draws criticism over oil bet
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

It's welcome news for Lula, who has promised to achieve zero deforestation in the Amazon by 2030 and is seeking to repair his country's environmental reputation. The government, however, has received criticism over its plans to open new oil fields near the mouth of the Amazon River. Dave Benett | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty ImagesThe Amazon is critical in absorbing the planet's carbon dioxide — making it a vital bulwark in the fight against climate change. Txai Surui, an indigenous leader and activist from the Brazilian Amazon, welcomed the trend of falling Amazon deforestation but criticized Lula's administration for its willingness to potentially develop offshore oil. "How are you doing agreements about deforestation and all these things and yet you want to explore [for oil]?"

Persons: Michael Dantas, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Lula, Jair Bolsonaro's, Guajajara, Bolsonaro, Sonia Guajajara, Txai Surui, Dave Benett, Buda Mendes, Rui Costa, Costa, Lula's, Surui, Brazil's, Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Andressa Anholete, Guillermo Lasso, Tipping, Brazil's Guajajara Organizations: Afp, Getty, CNBC, IBAMA, FUNAI, Indigenous Peoples, Petrobras, Reuters, Amazon, Nature Sustainability, U.N Locations: Manaquiri, Amazonas, London, Indigenous Peoples of Brazil, Annabel's, England, Brazil, Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Buda, Planalto, Brasilia, Ecuador

☆ Brazil's Lula Legalizes More Indigenous Reservations in Amazon
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-05 | by ( Sept. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Anthony BoadleBRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday officially recognized two Indigenous territories, granting them legal protection as reservations to defend against invasions by illegal loggers, gold miners and cattle ranchers. Environmentalists say Indigenous groups are the best guardians of the rainforest and deforestation data shows that the forests on their reservations are the best conserved. Lula, who pledged to legalize the greatest number of reservations possible, has so far signed decrees recognizing eight Indigenous territories since taking office in January. The Supreme Court, however, is expected rule that the cut-off date for claiming ancestral lands that were not lived on in 1988 is unconstitutional for denying recognized Indigenous rights. The reservations legalized by Lula on Tuesday are the Acapuri de Cima and the Rio Gregorio Indigenous territories in the states of Amazonas and Acre, respectively.

Persons: Anthony Boadle BRASILIA, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Cima, Sonia Guajajara, Guajajara, Anthony Boadle, Sandra Maler Organizations: Reuters, Rio, Indigenous Peoples Locations: Brazil, Rio Gregorio, Amazonas, Acre

[1/2] Brazil's Environment Minister Marina Silva meets Davi Kopenawa, chief of the Yanomami, after a ceremony to commemorate Amazon Day, at the Planalto Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, September 5, 2023. Environmentalists say Indigenous groups are the best guardians of the rainforest and deforestation data shows that the forests on their reservations are the best conserved. Lula, who pledged to legalize the greatest number of reservations possible, has so far signed decrees recognizing eight Indigenous territories since taking office in January. The Supreme Court, however, is expected rule that the cut-off date for claiming ancestral lands that were not lived on in 1988 is unconstitutional for denying recognized Indigenous rights. The reservations legalized by Lula on Tuesday are the Acapuri de Cima and the Rio Gregorio Indigenous territories in the states of Amazonas and Acre, respectively.

Persons: Marina Silva, Davi Kopenawa, Ueslei Marcelino, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Lula, Cima, Sonia Guajajara, Guajajara, Anthony Boadle, Sandra Maler Organizations: Amazon, REUTERS, Rights, Rio, Indigenous Peoples, Thomson Locations: Brasilia, Brazil, Rights BRASILIA, Rio Gregorio, Amazonas, Acre

Minister of Indigenous Peoples Sonia Guajajara said more Indigenous people felt comfortable identifying themselves as such. Tebet told reporters the new population numbers will allow for improved budget funding for policies to help Indigenous communities, in education but mainly in health services and basic sanitation to make up for government neglect. Half of Brazil's Indigenous communities live in the Amazon region, some 867,900, with the highest urban concentration in the city of Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state. But the main reason for the exponential growth in numbers, besides higher fertility rates among Indigenous communities, is the rise in visibility of Brazil's Indigenous movement, he said. "When you have strong Indigenous leaders bringing positive connotations to being Indigenous, this encourages people to begin identifying themselves," Barros said by telephone.

Persons: Vanderlecia Ortega dos Santos, Vanda, Ueslei Marcelino BRASILIA, Sonia Guajajara, Guajajara, Simone Tebet, Tebet, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's, Jair Bolsonaro, Lula, Leonardo Barros, Barros, Anthony Boadle, Aurora Ellis, Jamie Freed Organizations: Brazilian Institute of Geography, Teatro, REUTERS, Ueslei, IBGE, Government, Indigenous, Federal University of Viçosa, Thomson Locations: Belem , Para, Brazil, Belem, Portugal, Venezuela, Manaus, Amazonas, Minas Gerais

☆ Brazil's Lula cuts losses after setbacks on environment and Indigenous front
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Maria Carolina Marcello | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

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

☆ Brazil police shoot dead 4 illegal gold miners on Yanomami reservation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] A helicopter of the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA) is seen near Uraricoera river during an operation at illegal mining in the Yanomami indigenous land, Roraima state, Brazil, February 11, 2023. REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli/File PhotoBRASILIA, May 1 (Reuters) - Brazilian police and environmental protection agents were ambushed by illegal gold miners on the Yanomami Indigenous reservation in the Amazon on Monday and four miners were shot dead in the exchange of gunfire, a government statement said. The Environment Ministry said their team was attacked when they moved in to dismantle a wildcat mining camp run by an organized crime gang. Brazilian authorities are keen to show that they mean business in their efforts to remove the remainder of the wildcat miners on the reservation following the fatal shooting of a Yanomami man. Gold miners killed one man and seriously injured two others in an attack on Saturday in the Yanomami territory, where authorities have been evicting illegal miners who invaded Brazil's largest indigenous reservation, the size of Portugal.

☆ Brazil's Lula resumes creation of Indigenous reservations halted by Bolsonaro
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File PhotoBRASILIA, April 27 (Reuters) - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced the formal recognition of six Indigenous reservations on Friday, fulfilling a campaign promise to reverse the policy of his far-right predecessor Jair Bolsonaro. Lula made the announcement as part of the annual meeting in Brasilia of representatives of Brazil's one million Indigenous people. The Free Land Camp is a five-day event featuring music, dance and food in tents erected on the grass esplanade of the capital. Indigenous leaders called on the president to speed up the recognition of some 300 Indigenous territories that have been mapped out but have waited for years to be formally recognized. With no state protection, Indigenous communities are in danger of invasions by illegal loggers and wildcat gold miners that surged under Bolsonaro.

☆ Brazil declares emergency over deaths of Yanomami children from malnutrition
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Brazil's ministry of health has declared a medical emergency in the Yanomami territory, the country's largest indigenous reservation bordering Venezuela, following reports of children dying of malnutrition and other diseases caused by illegal gold mining. In four years of Bolsonaro's presidency, 570 Yanomami children died of curable diseases, mainly malnutrition but also malaria, diarrhea and malformations caused by mercury used by wildcat gold miners, the Amazon journalism platform Sumauma reported, citing data obtained by a FOIA. Lula visited a Yanomami health center in Boa Vista in Roraima state on Saturday following the publication of photos showing children and elderly men and women so thin their ribs were visible. In recent violent incidents, men on speed boats on the rivers have shot with automatic weapons at indigenous villages whose communities oppose the entry of gold miners. Lula said the new government will put an end to illegal gold mining as it moves to crack down on illegal deforestation in the Amazon, which surged to a 15-year high under Bolsonaro.

☆ Lula’s promise to create a ministry of Indigenous affairs in doubt
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

BRASILIA — Brazil’s Indigenous leaders were disappointed on Monday after President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva appeared to backtrack on a promise to create a ministry of Indigenous affairs to help restore rights and protections that were undermined by the current government. Lula said on Friday he might instead decide on a special department linked to the presidential office rather than a fully-fledged ministry, which disappointed Indigenous leaders who were taken by surprise by his comments. The ministry was important for the historical recognition of Brazil’s 900,000 indigenous people and reparation for their mistreatment and loss of land rights, she told Reuters. Lula drew loud applause at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt last month when he told delegates he explicitly promised an Indigenous ministry to ensure “dignified survival, security, peace and sustainability” for some 300 Indigenous tribes that still exist in Brazil. But Indigenous leaders said a ministry was needed to support their communities with the power to mobilize other ministries, and even the police and security forces to protect them.

Indigenous Sonia Guajajara, head of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB) organisation and candidate for federal deputy, takes part in an interview in Sao Paulo, Brazil, September 21, 2022. REUTERS/Amanda PerobelliSAO PAULO, Sept 22 (Reuters) - A record number of indigenous leaders, most of them women, are running for federal office in Brazil's election next month, in a backlash against the policies of President Jair Bolsonaro. "This election is crucial," said Sonia Guajajara, head of Brazil's main indigenous umbrella organization, the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), who is running for Congress. "Today, it is the women who are taking up the fight and leading the struggle of indigenous people in Brazil." Four decades passed before the election of another indigenous representative in Congress – a woman, Joenia Wapichana, from the state of Roraima.

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