Brazilian Congress advocates controversial thesis on indigenous land

Brazilian Congress advocates controversial thesis on indigenous land

According to the legislative vote, in the Chamber of Deputies there were 321 votes against Lula's measure and 137 in favor, while in the Senate the record was 53 to 19.

The controversial legal theory, promoted by the powerful rural sector, is that jurisdiction over an Aboriginal land can only occur if it is proven that the Aboriginal people were in the required space on October 5, 1988, the date of the promulgation of the Federal Constitution were located.

On September 21, the Supreme Court ruled that the interim milestone was unconstitutional. Eight days later, the House and Senate passed a bill that converted the temporary framework theory into federal law.

In October, Lula partially vetoed the project approved by the legislature, arguing that the thesis was considered unconstitutional.

For Senator Luis Carlos Heinze, the veto harms the economic exploitation of Brazilian territories.

“No country in the world has such a large territorial extent reserved for indigenous peoples as Brazil.” 114 million hectares of land for indigenous reserves is very high, and they want to reach 120 and 130 million hectares. “Brazil is already dotted with indigenous reserves, national parks and nature reserves,” he claimed.

According to the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples, the 736 registered indigenous territories represent only 13 percent of the national territory, a total of about 117 million hectares.

According to the latest census by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, there are almost 900,000 indigenous people living in Brazil, spread across 305 ethnic groups.

In favor of upholding the veto, Federal MP Tarcisio Motta argued that the Federal Constitution had not established this logic of a framework that would legitimize the occupation of native lands.

“This is a fight between agribusinesses interested in continuing to advance on indigenous lands and indigenous peoples and populations and social movements fighting for their survival and right to exist,” he denounced.

npg/ocs