Indigenous movements unite against government policies

More than 4,000 leaders from indigenous peoples and organizations, representing 305 communities, gathered in Brasilia, Brazil’s capital, between April 24th and 26th, during the XV Terra Livre Camp (ATL). The camp became a resistance landmark and a voice of indignation against president Bolsonaro and other State agents against indigenous rights. On the last day of the occupation, the indigenous people marched through Brasilia and formalized letters to the Ministry of Health, in order to maintain SESAI to care for basic indigenous health, and to the Ministers of Justice and of Agriculture, repudiating Provisional Measure 870. MP 870, introduced by Bolsonaro’s government, aims to remove the power to identify and demarcate indigenous lands and to analyse environmental license on projects that affect indigenous reserves from the Minister of Justice and put it under the Ministry of Agriculture, in a clear constitutional violation.