Thousands of Indigenous People Demonstrate in Brasilia Awaiting Key Land Decision | For the organizers, it is the biggest indigenous mobilization in the history of Brazil

Thousands of indigenous people marched through Brasilia on Wednesday to the Supreme Court, which began to analyze a key case concerning the rights to their ancestral lands. The organizers claim that it is the largest indigenous mobilization in Brazilian history, with six thousand participants from 170 different ethnic groups campsite since Sunday in the central region of the capital, seat of the three powers.

Specific, the Brazilian court must decide the decision of a court of appeal concerning a territory of the State of Santa Catarina claimed by the Xokleng, Guaraní and Kaingang peoples. The new legislation which is put to the vote on Wednesday aims to adopt the criterion of “time frame” for the delimitation of indigenous lands, recognizing as ancestral lands only those which they occupied at the time of the promulgation of the Constitution of 1988.

“Systematic persecution”

Under the slogan “Struggle for Life”, the indigenous movements marched in the afternoon to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), when the Court opened the session in which it began to deal with a case which will have repercussions on dozens of disputes concerning its nature reserves. Dressed in typical costumes, to the sound of songs and traditional instruments, they organized a night vigil on Tuesday with thousands of candles arranged in the Plaza de los Tres Poderes, surrounded by the buildings of the Presidency, the Congress and the STF.

Indigenous people are protesting what they see as “systematic persecution” by the far-right government of Jair Bolsonaro since coming to power in 2019. “This government is attacking indigenous peoples”said the chef Syrata Pataxo, of the indigenous Pataxo people, originally from Bahia (northeast). “The whole of humanity is now calling for the protection of the Amazon. But this government wants the jungle, the lungs of our planet, to be replaced by soybeans and mining”added the 32-year-old leader.

Ancestral lands

The Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), which organizes the demonstrations, considers that what is in the hands of the highest court is “the most important process of the century” for the 900,000 indigenous people currently living in the country (0.5 percent of the population) and whose reserves occupy 13 percent of the vast national territory.

The case revolves around the right of indigenous peoples to occupy and preserve their ancestral lands, which was guaranteed to them by the Brazilian Constitution of 1988.. The agribusiness lobby argues that only the land they occupied when the Magna Carta was enacted should be recognized as indigenous land.

But indigenous peoples’ advocates argue that the Constitution does not provide for such a “deadline” and that indigenous peoples have been displaced from their territories throughout history, particularly during the military dictatorship (1964-1985).

“All of Brazil is an indigenous land. We have never left this land, we have always been there”, Held Galileo, 28, head of the commune of the same name from the state of Paraiba (northeast). decision, which might take more than one session and even not air this week, It’s on a reserve in the southern state of Santa Catarina, but it will have a general impact and could affect many other disputed lands.

“If the Supreme Court accepts the deadline, it will be able to legitimize violence against indigenous peoples and stimulate conflict in the Amazon rainforest and other regions.said in a press release Francisco Cali Tzay, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples. The tribunal “will have native blood on its hands” if you support this thesis, said the indigenous leader Alexandra Munduruku.

President Jair Bolsonaro warned on Tuesday that dismissing the delay argument could lead to “chaos”. Far from being attentive to the needs of indigenous peoples, Bolsonaro promotes a law to legalize mining and agribusiness on indigenous lands.

Since the arrival to power of the far-right president, the natives have multiplied complaints about invasions of their land and acts of violence. They also question government omissions in preventing and caring for indigenous peoples against coronavirus What killed 1,166 people and more than 58,000 infected in their communities, according to figures from Apib.