A recent case brought before Brazil’s Supreme Court aims to systematically strip ancestral land rights and accelerate agribusiness, mining, and logging activities in Brazil. Ahead of the ruling, the country’s Indigenous tribes came together to coordinate a protest of over 6,000 native representatives against the impending decision—the largest demonstration of Indigenous peoples in Brazil’s history.
The “Struggle for Life” protests, organized by the umbrella association Articulation of Indigenous Peoples for Brazil (APIB), mobilized in response to the “Marco Temporal,” or the “Time Frame.” The measure is aptly nicknamed; if passed, the land claims of Indigenous peoples who did not physically inhabit their traditional land on October 5, 1988, the day on which Brazil’s new constitution was enacted, would be null.
For the agribusiness and lumber industries, the bill opens the gates to a treasure trove of land and lumber. For the country’s Indigenous population and the Amazon, the bill is a death sentence.
Reservations cover about 13 percent of Brazil’s land mass, nearly all of which are located in the Amazon, putting them face to face with unrelenting agribusiness corporations backed by international institutions. Legal and illegal encroachment has dangerously accelerated in recent years under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, whose campaign ran on anti-indigenous, neoliberal economic, and racist values.
In just the past year, the far-right administration has paved the way for environmental and Indigenous devastation by crippling federal regulatory bodies, dismantling checks on agribusiness, and even emboldening illegal miners, cattle ranchers, and loggers. Despite a constitutional commitment to Indigenous land rights, Brazil’s reservations rarely see any of the protections they were promised. The demarcation process has been laggard, and with 237 pending land claims—many of which have been unsettled for decades—traditional lands are left vulnerable to exploitation. Subsequently, the communities are subject to illegal invasions and attacks, and their traditional ways of living are less maintainable.
The bill marks a watershed in Brazil’s history, but its ramifications would extend beyond the dispossession of Brazil’s Indigenous peoples. Reservations offer crucial fortification against major agribusiness conglomerates eager to ramp up their operations. A UN report published this past year found that deforestation rates in legally recognized reservations in the Bolivian, Brazilian, and Colombian Amazon were only one half to one third of those in other forests with similar ecological characteristics.
Deforestation in the Amazon, expedited by the Bolsonaro administration’s policies, has hit its highest rate in 12 years. Scientists believe that the tipping point (the point at which the damage to the Amazon’s water cycle will be irreversible, turning much of the rainforest into barren scrubland) will occur at twenty to twenty five percent of deforestation. Eighteen percent of the forest has already been cut down.
The Struggle for Life protests are a culmination of centuries’ worth of struggle against attempts to violate Indigenous rights, and the Marcos Temporal bill is undoubtedly one of the most important judgements in Indigenous history. With such wide-reaching causes and consequences, native activists and APIB are collaborating with international organizations such as Progressive International to make changes in Brazil that will ripple across a global front.
Awareness followed by action at all scales is necessary in stopping the assault on Indigenous rights in Brazil. And it must take aim at the root of the crisis by disabling the corporations, institutions, and international foreign policy fueling the mass deforestation of the Amazon. International solidarity and awareness that supports the communities and movements that lead the charge against these powers and policies on the ground is essential for public pressure and protection of activists. This public show of support shines a light on bad actors, and builds momentum for the pursuit of justice everywhere. The movement for Indigenous rights is an intersectional one; as Sônia Guajajara, leader of APIB, stated, “the struggle of Indigenous peoples is a struggle for the future of humanity.” We can support activists across the globe by educating ourselves on the struggles and successes of the movement today, and listening to conversations led by those on the frontlines of climate justice.
In that vein, we encourage you to join us next week at the 2nd World Forum on Climate Justice. The Forum features three days of engaging discussions, presentations and keynotes on climate justice from September 21st to 23rd. Keynote speakers include climate justice leaders from activism and politics including Kumi Naidoo, Mary Robinson, and Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim. The World Forum will focus on the need to incorporate climate justice into global climate governance and post-pandemic recovery. Register here to attend - we’ll see you there!
Arielle Lee
Editor-in-Chief
