Brazil Issues Executive Order To Safeguard Indigenous Lands

Prensa Latina

Brasilia, Apr 20 (Prensa Latina) The official Union journal has published today an executive order ensuring the protection of 232,544 hectares of indigenous land, distributed in three áreas of the Brazilian states of Amazonas and Para.

The legislation comes into effect with the release of the presidential order that demands for the rights of four aboriginal ethnic groups in the nation, said Flávio Chiarelli, head of the Native National Foundation (FUNAI).

This way, the federal government shows its willingness to guarantee the rights of native peoples, Chiarelli said.

He announced that in 2015, other lands will then be part of the native heritage, with a population of about 820 thousand people, spread in almost 300 ethnic groups that speak 274 different languages and represent nearly the 0.26 percent of the total amount of Brazilians.

The release of the executive order comes a day after the celebration of the National Indian Day and after protests of thousands of indigenous people in Brasilia against a bill that would give Parliament the power for demarcation and protection of indigenous areas.

So far, the government has the power to do so, but the bill intends to transfer that power ot the Parliament.

Brazil: Indigenous People Set Up Protest Camp To Demand Land Rights

Hundreds of indigenous Brazilians demonstrate in Brasilia as part of the National Mobilisation Week(Evaristo Sa/AFP)

By David Sim in IBTimes | Posted, April 16, 2015

About 1,400 members of various indigenous Brazilian tribes have set up camp outside the National Congress in Brasilia to demand land rights.

Organisers of the Tierra Libre (Free Land) camp aim to discuss issues of land demarcation and indigenous rights with authorities.

Members of some of Brazil’s indigenous tribes demonstrate in front of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia(Evaristo Sa/AFP)

An indigenous Brazilian man aims his bow and arrow at the National Congress in Brasilia(Evaristo Sa/AFP)

Brazilian natives dance in the rain in front of the Planalto Palace in Brasilia during National Mobilisation Week(Evaristo Sa/AFP)

Brazilian Indians from various indigenous ethnic groups dance and sing in the rain at the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia(Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

“A hundred groups from across the country are here to express their dissatisfaction and denounce attacks against their rights, which are happening in Congress,” Cleber Buzzato, executive secretary of the Indigenous Missionary Council told AFP.

Indians fear that legislators will allow the use of their ancestral lands by agribusiness, which has the backing of a group of parliamentarians and the new Minister of Agriculture, Katia Abreu. Many believe that new legislation threatens to shrink the size of some reserves for indigenous groups.

Brazilian Indians take part in a protest in front of the National Congress in Brasilia(Evaristo Sa/AFP)

An indigenous Brazilian man takes part in a protest in Brasilia(Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

Brazilians from various indigenous ethnic groups take part in a protest at the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia(Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

A man smokes a pipe in front of a row of riot police officers outside the Planalto Palace in Brasilia(Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

A Brazilian Indian participates in the National Indigenous Mobilisation camp in Brasilia(Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

Members of the Xucuru ethnic group attend the Terra Livre Camp (Free Land Camp) in Brasilia(Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

A member of the Kaingang ethnic group protests during National Indigenous Mobilisation week in Brasilia(Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters)

A member of a Brazilian indigenous tribe plays the guitar at the so-called Free Land camp in front of the National Congress in Brasilia(Evaristo Sa/AFP)

Indigenous men pose for a selfie while setting up a tent at the Ministries Esplanade in Brasilia(Evaristo Sa/AFP)