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Bolsonaro presents controversial bill opening indigenous lands mostly in the Amazon

Friday, February 7th 2020 - 09:49 UTC
Full article 39 comments
The measure allows both indigenous and third-party developers to participate in the new land development. “I hope that this dream ... comes true,” Bolsonaro said The measure allows both indigenous and third-party developers to participate in the new land development. “I hope that this dream ... comes true,” Bolsonaro said

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro introduced a controversial Bill that opens up indigenous lands, many of them in the Amazon, to mining, agricultural activities and hydraulic energy production. The conservative president described the measure, which still needs approval in Congress, as a “dream” while indigenous leaders have labelled it a “genocide Bill.”

The measure, which has not yet been published, allows both indigenous and third-party developers to participate in the new land development. “I hope that this dream ... comes true,” Bolsonaro said during a ceremony.

“An indigenous person is a human being exactly like us, who has a heart, has a soul, has desires, has needs, and is as Brazilian as we are,” he said.

In a statement, the presidency said the “omission” of previous governments to regulate these activities had caused legal uncertainty “and encouraged illegal mining.”

“This big step depends on Congress,” said Bolsonaro, a climate change skeptic. “We will be pressured by the environmentalists. Those people, if I could, I would confine them to the Amazon region since they like the environment so much,” said the president, who often frames pressure from environmentalists as a foreign conspiracy.

Some 600 Brazilian indigenous leaders gathered in the Amazon state of Mato Grosso in January to denounce what they called the government's “genocide, ethnocide and ecoside”.

Bolsonaro's government, however, maintains that many indigenous leaders support its projects.

Categories: Politics, Brazil.

Top Comments

Disclaimer & comment rules
  • Think

    Are you trying to troll an auld trout..., Shicuréo...?
    If so..., you should educate yourself about the bait you're using...
    https://monthlyreview.org/2020/02/01/marx-and-the-indigenous/

    Ps...:
    If you ever made it to Treuorum..., you won't regret it...;-)

    Feb 08th, 2020 - 12:06 am +1
  • DemonTree

    Chicureo
    Why is it that people who support foreign companies or rich individuals owning huge tracts of land suddenly don't care about property rights when the owners are indigenous people?

    Feb 08th, 2020 - 12:19 pm +1
  • Think

    TWIMC...

    Interesting to see how MercoPress intrinsically backs all of Bolsonaros initiatives against them Indians..., yet does its utmost to protect them Indian ladies privacy..., by chosing a picture with their boobies masked...

    That's what I call “Knowing ones Priorities”...!

    Feb 07th, 2020 - 09:24 am 0
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