Brazilian lawmakers close to curbing Indigenous land rights limit

Brazil flag. Photo: Eloquent display.

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Brazilian lawmakers moved closer Tuesday toward changing the constitution to limit Indigenous peoples’ rights over their ancestral lands, despite expert claims that they are a key bulwark against global warming.

Land rights for native peoples have been a point of contention in Brazil for years due to the country’s powerful agricultural sector and its allies in the predominantly conservative parliament.

The country has already curbed land claims through the so-called “time frame” rule which means Indigenous peoples can only have protected reserves on lands they physically occupied when the constitution was enacted in 1988.

Proponents say the measure will resolve uncertainty about land demarcation, while opponents say it will open native peoples’ lands to economic exploitation.

The Senate advanced Tuesday a proposed amendment, by 52 votes to 15, that would enshrine the time frame rule in the constitution itself.

The text now moves to the Chamber of Deputies for approval.

The vote came ahead of the start of a Supreme Court case centered on the application of the time frame rule in demarcating Indigenous lands.

The court declared the rule unconstitutional in 2023, in a victory for Indigenous movements.

But Congress passed it into law anyway, despite that decision and the vetoes of leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Brazil is home to 1.7 million Indigenous people, out of a total population of over 200 million.

Indigenous communities argue that many of Brazil’s native inhabitants were expelled from ancestral homelands throughout the country’s history, particularly during its military dictatorship of 1964 to 1985.

Since returning to power in 2023, Lula has approved 16 Indigenous territories, granting native peoples the right to occupy and exclusively use their natural resources.

Experts say that such territories work as a shield against climate-related threats like deforestation and fires.

AFP

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