The indigenous people of Brazil are a small, extremely well-organized minority whose political weight far exceeds their demographic weight. Spanish President Pedro Sánchez visited the Memorial of Indigenous Peoples in Brasilia this Wednesday to learn first-hand about the wishes and demands of this group, which represents less than 1% of the population but plays a crucial role in protection and therefore the Containment of tropical forests plays a role in climate change. Sánchez has announced that the funding line for indigenous peoples developed by the AECID (Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation) will finance two projects in Brazil for the first time.
After a meeting and lunch with Lula, Sánchez visited the Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, to whom he stressed that the defense of democratic values is one of the pillars of Parliament. Social progress. And he visited an exhibition about the damage caused in the attack on the three powers' headquarters in January. 2023.
The Indigenous Peoples Memorial welcomes visitors with a humble sign reminding them: “12,000 years on this earth.” The visit begins with an exhibition of. spectacular feather headgear that gives an impression of the rich diversity of this group.
The rise to power of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva just over a year ago marked the end of the dark Bolsonaro era for Brazil's indigenous population. The right-wing extremist president gave wings to the predators of the jungle, wanted to legalize the commercial exploitation of minerals from indigenous lands and fulfilled his promise not to demarcate a single inch of land. For this reason, Lula's victory was a balm for them. And he also had the gesture of creating a ministry for indigenous peoples and appointing an indigenous woman to head it, Sonia Guajajara. He placed another native, Joenia Wapichana, at Funai, the official foundation for the protection of the indigenous population. The incumbent president has also created six new reservations, far fewer than indigenous people demand.
That same afternoon, several of the President's interlocutors stressed the importance of the need for legal protection in the areas where indigenous people still live, in order to protect themselves from the constant attacks of all kinds of poachers and in view of the expansion of the agricultural sector. . One of them even went so far as to say that the main enemy of the indigenous population at the moment is Congress, where Bolsonaro's allies are in the majority.
They also emphasized their diversity. The 1.7 million indigenous people belong to 266 cities and speak 160 languages. They are currently defending their rights on board motorcycles with satellite phones or with legal arguments before the Supreme Court.
One of the projects that Spain will finance is called Morîîpe Upastakon Yamoinonpa (Taking Good Care of Our Land). It will support the Roraima State Indigenous Council, which brings together 465 communities across 10 million hectares. The idea is to strengthen their work as security forces for the indigenous population themselves, brigade members, etc. The other will fund FUNAI projects to train locals in the ecologically sustainable management of their own territories, based on the knowledge of their ancestors passed down from generation to generation.
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