The Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), along with all its fellow organizations, demands that Bill 490/2007 be definitively pulled from the voting agenda of the Commission of Constitution and Justice (CCJ) of the Chamber of Deputies.
In practical terms, this project represents a new genocide against Indigenous Peoples. The Bill is unconstitutional and could end the demarcation of Indigenous Lands in Brazil, allowing for the opening of territories for predatory exploitation. In addition to Bill 490, other anti-indigenous proposals that pose risks to the environment are on the agenda in Congress.
Indigenous lives matter, and in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, our lives have become the target of attacks, persecution and extermination. In this sense, we underscore the following demands:
- Definitive removal of Bill 490/2007 from the CCJ voting agenda, which opens up Indigenous lands to predatory economic exploitation and would essentially make new demarcations of indigenous territories impossible. This bill would allow the government to open Indigenous lands to extractive industries like mining, enable the legalization of hundreds of illegal mining sites, and force contact with isolated Indigenous peoples;
- Shelving of Bill 2633/2020, known as “PL da Grilagem” [Land grabber’s Bill], from the voting agenda of the National Congress. Bill 2633, the successor to Provisional Measure 910, deals with the regularization of private occupations on public lands. If approved, could legalize thousands of claims to recently deforested land;
- Shelving of Bill 984/2019, which aims to build roads on the Iguaçu National Park and other Conservation Units;
- Shelving of Bill 177/2021, that would authorize the President of the Republic to withdraw support to Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO);
- Shelving of Bill 191/2020, authorizing exploration on indigenous lands for major infrastructure and mining projects. Bill 191/20 intends to transform indigenous lands into a new frontier of destruction, opening them, without due care or respect to the will of indigenous peoples, to some of the most impacting economic activities existent, such as mining, oil exploration, construction of large hydroelectric plants and small-scale artisanal mining;
These projects, which we have repeatedly denounced as genocidal and ecocidal, found in the Covid-19 pandemic the ideal excuse to “run the cattle herd” [changing all the rules and simplifying standards], which has led to a spike in violence and conflicts, including among relatives. These conflicts are inflamed by the Brazilian government leaders in the ongoing battle to defend and guarantee the respect for basic rights.
In a sick world, and faced with a project for extermination, our struggle is still for life, and against all the viruses that kill us!
For the life and historical continuity of our peoples, “Tell the people to move forward.”
APIB – Articulação dos Indígenas do Brasil
Organizações regionais de base da APIB:
APOINME – Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Nordeste, Minas Gerais e Espírito Santo
ARPIN SUDESTE – Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Sudeste
ARPINSUL – Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Sul
ATY GUASU – Grande Assembléia do povo Guarani
Comissão Guarani Yvyrupa
Conselho do Povo Terena
COIAB – Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira