Brazil's Lula promises indigenous tribes to reverse Bolsonaro measures

By Al Mayadeen Net
Source: Agencies
13 Apr 2022 10:55
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Bolsonaro is trailing Lula in early polls ahead of the election on October 2.

Brazil's former President Lula Da Silva joins the indigenous people's Free Land camp, Brazil, on April 12, 2022. (Reuters)

Former leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva promised Brazil's indigenous people, on Tuesday, that if he wins the presidential election in October, he will stop illegal mining on their reservations and recognize their land claims.

Lula paid a visit to a protest camp in Brasilia, where thousands of members of 200 tribes have gathered to oppose far-right President Jair Bolsonaro's plans to allow commercial agriculture, mining, and oil exploration on their lands.

"Everything this government has decreed against indigenous peoples must be repealed immediately," said Lula, who served two terms as president between 2003 and 2010.

"Nobody did more for indigenous people than our Workers Party governments, and now everything has been dismantled by this unscrupulous government," Lula said.

Bolsonaro is trailing Lula in early polls ahead of the election on October 2. In 2018, the current President vowed not to recognize a single centimeter of indigenous reservation land, gaining the support of Brazil's powerful farm lobby.

Indigenous leaders urged Lula to re-establish the government's indigenous affairs agency, Funai, which had its funding cut and staff reduced under Bolsonaro.

Brazil’s Amazon has been experiencing an unprecedented gold rush. Not only were 25% of 174 tons of gold in 2019 and 2020 illegally mined but it's also been noted that this rush only happened when Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro assumed office. His administration is notoriously known for trying to legalize mining on indigenous land, while the President looks to support illegal prospectors.

As the gold rush surged, locals were met with the aggressive swarms of gold miners looking for a killing – figuratively and literally. Since May, prospectors have been attacking Yanomami and Munduruku communities in the Brazilian Amazon, in Roraima and Para respectively.

This ignited a strong reaction from Brazilian legislators this year, especially those allied with Bolsonaro, prompting them to make laws that legalize gold mines on indigenous land.

Riding on speedboats in the Uraricoera River, miners used their automatic weapons on indigenous peoples, killing 2 children as they drowned in the river – a 1-year-old and a 5-year-old. In another event, miners rammed a boat that had 8 children on it. Even the police who rushed to tame the incidents were met with violence by the miners.