Brazil’s President Offers Support to Territorial Claims of Indigenous Groups

Brazil’s President Offers Support to Territorial¹ Claims of Indigenous² Groups

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has expressed support for creating new territories for the country's Indigenous communities.

Lula spoke³ about the subject during his first trip to Indigenous land since taking office in January. About 2,000 Indigenous people welcomed him recently to the Raposa Serra do Sol area in Brazil's Amazon rainforest. The area is in Brazil's north near Venezuela.

Lula told the group his goal is to quickly get recognition of new territories for Indigenous communities "before other people take over and invent false documents" to claim ownership rights.

"We need to quickly try to legalize every land whose studies are almost finished so the Indigenous can take the land that is theirs," Lula said.

Lula did not announce new declarations – also called demarcations – that Indigenous people and activists⁴ have been demanding. They wanted new demarcations to be created in the first 30 days of Lula's administration, which began on January 1.

Rights groups have been pressuring Lula to demarcate 13 new Indigenous territories that have already been cleared by the government. Doing so would mark a sharp change in policy from the administration of former President Jair Bolsonaro. Bolsonaro did not demarcate any new land for Indigenous groups during his presidency⁵.

Some of the territories awaiting presidential approval began their demarcation processes many years ago.

Lula gave final approval to the demarcation of Raposa Serra do Sol in 2005, during his first term as president. The area is home to 26,000 people who are made up of five ethnic⁶ groups.

Since the area was established, there has been conflict in Raposa Serra do Sol between rice farmers and Indigenous people. Sometimes the conflict has led to violence.

Bolsonaro pushed to legalize mining in Indigenous territories. This led to new arguments in long-standing disputes between Raposa Serra do Sol's local groups. Bolsonaro visited an illegal gold mining camp in the same territory in October 2021 and reportedly supported the activity there. His visit was criticized by local Indigenous leaders.

Leaders of the main Indigenous communities told The Associated Press they expect more support under Lula's presidency. In his speech, Lula said his administration will expel gold miners from Indigenous lands. The administration has already begun doing that in the Yanomami Indigenous territory.

"That gold doesn't belong to anyone," Lula said. "It's there because nature placed it there. It's on Indigenous land."

Davi Kopenawa leads the Yanomami Indigenous group. He spoke at the gathering⁷, telling Lula that his people's needs are greater than they were four years ago. He said, "Mining kills us, it kills people in the city, the river, the water of the forest."

Kopenawa said that after gold miners are removed, the area's Indigenous health care system needs to be rebuilt. "We need to save the children we have left. I don't want more children dying. We need hospitals in our community. Disease is still strong in the Amazon."

Lula also said there would be a meeting involving leaders of countries of the Amazon rainforest: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.

Words in This Story

indigenous – adj. having always lived or existed in a place

1 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

2 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。