Tag Archives: Free Land camp

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)

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.

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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.

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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

brasilia indigenous protest

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)

brasilia indigenous protest

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