Bolsonaro weaponizes indigenous farmers against indigenous leaders

When president Bolsonaro spoke at the UNGA in New York, he not only attacked Chief Raoni, but also used some other indigenous ‘representatives’ to fragment the indigenous movement. He read a letter from a so-called Indigenous Agriculture Group to Ysani Kalapalo, who is an indigenous who supports Bolsonaro.

This group is formed by some indigenous representatives who have established industrialized agriculture within their reservations in questionable agreements with state governments. Soon after Bolsonaro’s speech at UNGA, several recognized indigenous networks (such as APIB and ATIX), repudiated his anti-demarcation words, said they did not recognize Ysani as a legitimate representative of the people of the Xingu nor supported the letter.