Indigenous protesters march on Brazil Congress over land rights

BRASÍLIA: Thousands of indigenous people decorated with traditional feathers and body paint converged on Brazil’s capital Wednesday to defend hard-won land rights many fear could be eroded by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.

Heavy security, including riot police, has been deployed for the annual three- day lobbying effort in the heart of Brasilia, where representatives from various tribes have set up camp along the broad avenue leading to Congress.

Next to tents pitched on the grass, demonstrators displayed posters declaring ‘Our land is sacred,’

‘ No mining on indigenous lands’ and ‘ We demand the demarcation of our lands’ as others sang and danced during the first such protest under Bolsonaro, a champion of farm businesses, mining and logging who took power on Jan 1.

“We do not just fight for constitutional rights, we fight for the right to exist,” indigenous leader Sonia Guajajara told reporters.

Around 2,000 indigenous people have arrived so far, according to AFP journalists.

Organisers of the tribal camp said nearly 4,000 had turned up to the event that was given little coverage by major local media outlets.

“We came here for an important cause — it was very difficult for us, our ancestors, to win these rights and little by little they are decreasing,” said Camila Silveiro, 22, from the southern state of Parana.

“We came here to ask for more respect.”

Luana Kumaruara, an anthropology student from the northern state of Para, accused Bolsonaro’s government of attacking ‘all’ the rights of indigenous people, including education and health.

There are more than 800,000 indigenous people and more than 300 different tribes in the country of 209 million people, according to Brazil’s FUNAI indigenous affairs agency. — AFP