03/Sep/2021
The event will gather about 4,000 women from 150 peoples, from all regions of the country and will continue the mobilizations of the indigenous movement in defense of their rights in the federal capital
Between the 7th and 11th of September, the National Articulation of Indigenous Women Warriors of Ancestrality (Anmiga) holds the Second National March of Indigenous Women, in Brasília. With the theme “Original women: Reforesting minds for the healing of the Earth’, it is expected the participation of about 4,000 women, from more than 150 peoples, coming from all biomes of Brazil, during the 3 days of activities, which take place in the space of the National Arts Foundation (FUNARTE).
“We are seeking to guarantee our territories, those that preceded us, for present and future generations, defending the environment, this common good that guarantees our ways of life as humanity. In addition to being a mere physical resource, it is also home to the spirits of forests, animals and the waters of life as a whole, source of our ancestral knowledge”, reinforces Anmiga’s statement on the march.
The mobilization was carried out for the first time in 2019, and it took place virtually in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The sanitary protocols of the second march reinforce all existing and recommended norms for combating coronaviruses.
According to the organization of the march, the women’s delegations were guided to prioritize the participation of people who had completed their immunization cycle against Covid-19, with at least two doses of the vaccine, or with the unique dose. The use of mask during the activities is mandatory and testing will be carried out upon the arrival of people at the event.
The march health team includes indigenous health professionals in partnership with the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), the Indigenous Health Clinic from the University of Brasília (Asi/UNB), the Health Department of the Federal District with the University Hospital of Brasília (HUB).
Permanent Mobilization
“We state that indigenous women will be on the front line to bury once and for all the ‘milestone thesis’, during the 2nd march of indigenous women”, emphasizes the Anmiga coordination.
Since August 22, more than six thousand indigenous people, from 176 peoples, from all regions of the country, were present in Brasília, gathered in the “Luta pela Vida” camp, which is currently the largest mobilization in the history of the indigenous movement. Headed by the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (Apib), in association with all its regional organizations, the indigenous people are following the judgment by the Supreme Court (STF) that will define the future of the demarcation of Indigenous Lands and also protest against the anti-indigenous agenda of Bolsonaro government and within the National Congress.
After the beginning of the trial, on August 26, and the announcement that it would be resumed this Wednesday (1/09), the indigenous people decided to keep the mobilization in Brasília and in the territories. Around 1,200 indigenous leaders, representing their peoples, remained in Brasília, and the “Luta pela Vida” camp was transferred to a new location, Funarte.
The group will continue to follow the trial and join forces with the 2nd March of Indigenous Women in a proposal for permanent mobilization.
Schedule
September 7th will be dedicated to welcoming the delegations in Brasilia, with orientation and testing activities for Covid-19. The National Forum of Indigenous Women starts on Wednesday, the 8th, and the entire mobilization will follow the return of the judgment in the Supreme Court at 2 pm (GMT-3).
On Thursday (9), the March of Indigenous Women will head to the Três Poderes Square, and on the 10th the end of the mobilization activities will count on the launch of the mobilization “Reflorestarmentes”. All activities can be followed on the website: anmiga.org
23/Aug/2021
Fotos: @scotthill / Aty Guasu
More than 5,000 indigenous people from all regions of Brazil are gathered in Brasilia to claim their rights
The second day of the Struggle for Life Camp began with the presentation of the indigenous delegations gathered in the camp. At this moment, more than 4,000 indigenous people, from 117 peoples from all regions of Brazil, are present at the Esplanada dos Ministérios, in Brasília. This morning, in a presentation of indigenous cultures, the delegations had the opportunity to exhibit their traditional dances and songs, reinforcing the cultural ancestry shared between the peoples.
In the afternoon, the coordination of Apib and its regional organizations had a moment to present their considerations on the challenges facing Indigenous Peoples across the country. The regional organizations that make up Apib are: Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo (APOINME), Terena People’s Council, Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Southeast (ARPINSUDESTE), Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the South (ARPINSUL), Great Assembly of Guarani Kaiowá Peoples (Aty Guasu), Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB) and Guarani Yvyrupa Commission.
“It is also important to highlight that our camp has developed a series of health protocols, dedicated to reinforcing existing WHO norms, as all indigenous people who are in the camp must be vaccinated, obligatorily, in order to be able to accompany our camp. We feel pushed to be present in Brasilia, in this very desolate scenario that is being promoted both by the National Congress, but mainly by the Federal Government regarding the rights of indigenous peoples. From the 22nd to the 28th of August, in Brasília, we will fight for the rights of indigenous peoples, mainly guaranteeing the well-being of our territories.” Dinamam Tuxá, Coordinator of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil.
Indigenous Peoples of Brazil Receive International Support
The camp was visited by a Progressive International delegation, an articulation that brings together human rights organizations, political parties, unions and other institutions from the progressive field from several countries. The delegation was welcomed by representatives of the Munduruku and Kayapó peoples, who took advantage of the meeting to denounce the impacts they are facing due to infrastructure projects close to their lands.
Apib’s representatives delivered copies of the International Dossier released last week to serve as an instrument of denunciation for the international community, the document brings a series of complaints about the threats and violence perpetrated by the Government of Bolsonaro against Indigenous Peoples.
Also today, a delegation from Apib was invited to visit the Norwegian Embassy, where they were able to deliver the International Dossier and demand support for their struggle from Ambassador Nils Martin Gunneng, and from the program officer, Mr. Kristian Bengston.
United Nations reaffirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil
Francisco Cali Tzay, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples today called on the Supreme Court (STF) to guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples to their lands and territories, and to reject a legal argument promoted by commercial agents with the aim of explore natural resources in traditional indigenous lands, referring to the Milestone thesis (tese do Marco Temporal).
“Accepting a timeframe doctrine would result in a significant denial of justice for many indigenous peoples who seek recognition of their traditional land rights. According to the Constitution, indigenous peoples have the right to permanent possession of the lands they traditionally occupy”, said Francisco. This statement reinforces the relevance and need to defend the right of Indigenous Peoples to their territories.
Plenary of the Five Powers
At 3 pm, the Plenary of the Five Powers will take place, which will be held to promote an analysis of the situation on the legislative, executive, judiciary, popular and spiritual powers. In the evening, the Indigenous Peoples will be gathered to celebrate a Pajelança: a religious ritual to reinforce the alliance of the Peoples. After the ceremony, Mídia Índia (@midiaindia) will exhibit the video screening: “Memory and Fight”.
“This plenary talks about the five powers and is very important within the Struggle for Life camp, giving it a great meaning because it passes through the discussion of the legislature, the judiciary and the executive, and it also reminds us of the fourth power, which are the masses, which is the people, the Brazilian nation as a whole, not only the indigenous peoples, but the Brazilian people, which is the fourth power. And then we talk of the fifth power, being the spiritual one. The divinities rules our lives, rules the communities, gives strength in times of difficulty and in the face of invasion, miners, loggers, against bills and ordinances, against all human ailments and spiritual, also against the pandemic and the diseases” Marcos Sabaru, Assessor policy of Apib.
20/Aug/2021
Mobilization calls for indigenous people already vaccinated and counts with health protocols against Covid-19, in Brasilia
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), associated with all its regional organizations, inaugurates this Sunday (22) the national mobilization ‘Struggle for Life’, in Brasília. The activities, which will last until the 28th of August, intend to defend the indigenous peoples rights and to promote activities against the anti-indigenous agenda that advances into the National Congress and the Federal Government. The mobilization will also focus on the trial about the Milestone Thesis (Marco Temporal) by the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF), which is expected to be resumed on August 25th and may define the future for indigenous land demarcation.
The indigenous movement constantly denounces the increase of violence against indigenous peoples inside and outside their traditional territories. Apib and all its regional grassroot organizations disseminate this information to the press, on social media and formalized complaints in national and international legal instances. On the date that marks the International Day of Indigenous Peoples, August 9, Apib presented an unprecedented statement before the International Criminal Court (ICC) to denounce Bolsonaro’s government on the crimes of Genocide and Ecocide.
“We cannot remain silent while facing this violent scenario. It is not only Covid19 virus that is killing our people and that is why we decided once again to go to Brasília to continue fighting for the lives of indigenous peoples, for the Mother Earth and for the future of humanity”, emphasizes Sonia Guajajara, one of Apib’s executive coordinators.
The mobilisation previews seven days of activities in the federal capital, with an intense schedule of plenary sessions, political audiences within Federal Government bodies and embassies, marches and public demonstrations. During this period, indigenous people from all regions of Brazil will be camped at Praça da Cidadania.
The camp will have an intense program of political discussions and cultural events. All activities have a collaborative communication team formed mostly by indigenous people. “It is necessary to give visibility and amplify the voices of the indigenous movement as a whole. In this scenario of many threats, communication plays a key role and we will be joining forces in this camp”, emphasizes Erisvan Guajajara, Media India coordinator.
Health care
The Struggle for Life Camp has developed sanitary protocols dedicated to reinforcing all existing and recommended norms for combating Covid19. The camp’s health team includes indigenous professionals and count on the support of the Brazilian Association of Collective Health (Abrasco), the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the Indigenous Health Clinic of the University of Brasília (Asi/UNB) and the University Hospital of Brasília (HUB).
“The health recommendations begin from the moment the delegations organize themselves to leave their territories. Apib proposes the invitation of people who already have their full vaccination coverage,” explains Dinamam Tuxá, one of Apib’s executive coordinators.
The first day of the camp (22) is dedicated to the arrival of the delegations and to carry out mass testing for Covid-19 as one of the sanitary protocols for the mobilization.
On Monday (23) the activities are dedicated to political updates with leaders across the country. ‘The Five Powers’ is the name of the plenary that will be held to promote an analysis of the current situation on the legislative, executive, judiciary, popular and spiritual powers. On this day, rituals and audiovisual exhibitions are also planned.
Future
The most central agenda of the Struggle for Life mobilisation is related to the trial by the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF), which is expected to be the most important process of the century for the lives of indigenous peoples. The Court will analyze the repossession action filed by the government of Santa Catarina against the Xokleng people, referring to the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous Land (TI), where the Guarani and Kaingang peoples also live.
Under the status of “general repercussion”, the final decision made by the trial will serve as a guideline for the federal government and all instances of Brazilian justice system, as well as a reference to all processes, administrative procedures and legislative projects regarding the indigenous land demarcation procedures.
“Indigenous peoples experience a deeply adverse political context under Bolsonaro’s administration, the first president elected with a declared position against the indigenous peoples. As soon as he started his government, he signed several acts that hurt the Constitution and International Treaties that protect indigenous communities and their territories. It is important to note that, in this context of pandemic, it is essential to reflect on the relevant role the traditional territories play to keep humanity’s equilibrium. So, the indigenous lands, besides protecting the indigenous peoples’s ways of life, are a national and public heritage, which contributes to keep the climatic balance”, emphasizes Eloy Terena, Apib’s juridic coordinator in his article on the Supreme Court judgment (read the full text here)
In this sense, the schedule for the Struggle for Life camp on August 24th and 25th is dedicated to discussions, acts and manifestations related to the trial, in support of the Supreme Court justices and against the Milestone Thesis (Marco Temporal).
The days following the trial will give space to debates related to the 2022 elections and the strengthening of the support networks for the struggles of indigenous peoples. The departure of all delegations is scheduled for the 28th of August.
Check out some schedule details here
19/Aug/2021
Bills being processed in the Brazilian Congress, with irreversible consequences to the Amazon forest and indigenous peoples, could bring serious risks to the operations of financial institutions. An alert from the Coalition and other partners adds to the agenda of denunciations by indigenous peoples.
Brasília, August 19, 2021 – In a letter sent today to 80 international and Brazilian financial institutions, Forest & Finance Coalition, together with the Association of Indigenous People of Brazil (APIB), the Climate Observatory, and 45 allied organizations, warn about the risks of investments in Brazil in light of a suite of legislative changes being currently pushed in the Brazilian Congress. If approved, these bills will result in irreversible consequences for the protection of critical ecosystems such as the Amazon rainforest and the guarantee of the rights of Indigenous peoples, posing serious risks for many financial institutions operating in Brazil.
The coalition’s alert aims to pressure these financial institutions to publicly and forcefully position themselves against this regressive agenda, spur change within the industry and warn companies that operate in Brazil and rely on their financing.
“The Forests and Finance Coalition has been pressuring financial institutions for some time to take action in relation to their investments that threaten forests and the rights of Indigenous peoples in Brazil. These measures include clear criteria for excluding companies that commit these violations from its portfolio and the adoption of policies against deforestation and for the protection of the rights of Indigenous peoples,” says Merel Van der Merk, coordinator of the Coalition. “But faced with a threat of this magnitude to the legal protection of the environment, we need concrete action now, a very clear position that these institutions will not be accomplices in further destruction, deforestation and degradation of Brazilian ecosystems and the violation of rights of indigenous peoples,” she highlighted.
Among the legislative threats described in the letter are Bill 2633/2020, also known as the Land Grabbing Bill (PL da Grilagem); Bill 3729/2004, which loosens the rules for environmental licensing in Brazil – both approved by a great majority in the Chamber of Deputies, awaiting consideration in the Senate; Bill 191/2020 which frees up mining and other extractive activities within Indigenous lands and removes the veto power of these communities; Legislative Decree 177/2021, which allows Brazil’s withdrawal from Convention 169 of the ILO; and Bill 490/2007, which may revert constitutional protections to Indigenous Territories, making new demarcations unfeasible and threatening the ones already in place.
The letter reinforces the agenda of mobilizations by Indigenous peoples and organizations between the months of August and September in Brazil. On Monday, August 16t, the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) published an international dossier of complaints to draw attention to the offensive against Indigenous peoples and the environment led by the Bolsonaro government and its allies. APIB signed the letter led by the coalition, in addition to 45 other organizations.
“With this letter, we join hundreds of Indigenous leaders and environmental advocates that are now marching to Brasília to defend their territories and forests. If approved, these measures will have catastrophic results not only for Indigenous people but to the entire social and environmental protection apparatus in Brazil – which is already dismantled by the current administration – and because of the rainforest’s role in our climate, for the world,” said Rosana Miranda, campaign adviser at Amazon Watch, member of the coalition. “These changes threaten the financial sector itself, as it represents an increase in the social, legal, environmental, and climate risks involved in operating in Brazil. They need to act,” she concluded.
About the Forests and Finance Coalition
The Forests & Finance (F&F) is an initiative of a coalition of campaign and research organizations including Rainforest Action Network, TuK Indonesia, Profundo, Amazon Watch, Reporter Brasil, BankTrack, Sahabat Alam Malaysia, and Friends of the Earth US. The coalition seeks to prevent financial institutions from facilitating the common environmental and social abuses of forest risk commodities. They advocate greater transparency, specific financial sector policies, systems, and regulations.
The initiative’s database can uncover the links between major banks, investors, and companies at risk of deforestation, and present case studies involving deforestation and human rights violations linked to bank investments and financing. Financial institutions can access more than 300 companies directly involved in the supply chains of various commodities whose operations affect tropical forests in Southeast Asia, Central and West Africa, and Brazil.
19/Jul/2021
For the last 521 years this land has been characterized by violations, racism and genocide. Centuries of attempts to subjugating peoples, cultures and territories. Today there are not only guns tearing at bodies, but also pens signing extermination laws. When not only criminals are directly attacking, governments skip away from their duty of protecting our peoples. And as much as the fights overlap, we won’t allow it!
We are the first ones in this land, before even Brazil becomes Brazil.
Against bills that violate the Constitution itself, we will continue to be mobilized in the federal capital, sounding our maracas and singing our songs, between the 22nd and 28th of August.
We make this call, even during the pandemic, because we cannot remain silent facing genocide and echocide, because the Earth screams even when we are quiet. May the country listen to its native peoples. Our lives are linked to the earth, as we live in communion with it. We are the guardians of the forests and all forms of life that there inhabit. Facing a Congress that advances in an anti-indigenous agenda and against the Temporal Framework, scheduled to be voted by the Supreme Court on August 25th, we will resist!
We will lead vaccinated to Brasília, with all the hygiene precautions against Covid-19, to play our maracas to guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples.
Come together, relatives, to STRUGGLE FOR LIFE Camp.
Support
16/Jul/2021
The appeal was made in the same week Brazil was mentioned due risk of atrocity against indigenous peoples; Brazilian government tried to present a counter-argument, denied by the UN organism
By Adi Spezia and Tiago Miotto, Cimi’s Communication Department
In a joint statement during the 14th Session of the UN Mechanism of Experts on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), the Articulation of Indigenous People from Brazil (Apib) and the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi) denounced this Wednesday (14) measures adopted by the Brazilian government and by the National Congress that attack the rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil, such as 490 Bill, which in practice makes unfeasible new demarcations of indigenous lands, and the thesis of the temporal framework.
The meeting, which aims to listen to indigenous peoples and their organizations, was held virtually in this edition, due to the pandemic. It had as its central issue the self-determination of peoples and the rights of indigenous children. The EMRIP is a unique mechanism whose members are exclusively indigenous peoples. “It is a very important mechanism for the world’s indigenous community, led by indigenous peoples,” explains Paulo Lugon Arantes, Cimi’s international advisor.
Arantes, speaking on behalf of both organizations, highlighted the seriousness of the temporal frame and of the more than 30 other bills pending in the Brazilian Congress that violate the right of free determination from native peoples. The 490 Bill, recently approved by the Commission for the Constitution and Justice (CCJ) from the Chamber of Deputies, was highlighted as one of the main threats to indigenous rights today.
“The time frame is disastrous because it will leave an incalculable mark of exclusion and marginalization over peoples who have not yet had their territories demarcated or who have been expelled from their traditional territories”, said Paulo.
The organizations also denounced the Brazilian government’s anti-indigenous agenda, which led the UN Special Advisor for the Prevention of Genocide, Wairimu Nderitu, to express an unprecedented concern with the situation of indigenous peoples in Brazil.
“President Bolsonaro has a clearly anti-indigenous agenda, which led the UN advisor for the prevention of genocide to include Brazil in the World Atrocity Map”, said the advisor, on behalf of Apib and Cimi.
Reply denied
After the joint statement, the representative from Brazilian government asked for “the right to reply”, due to the fact that the country was mentioned. The response was denied by the EMRIP secretariat, who replied that Governments have no right to respond before the mechanism. “The members of the EMRIP are the only members of the mechanism and all others are observers,” explained the secretary.
17/May/2021
YANOMAMI ALERT
The Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) comes out to the public to express extreme indignation and concern at the escalation of violence committed by landgrabbers against indigenous communities in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in Roraima, and the negligence with which the situation has been treated by the public authorities. We are facing the risk of another massacre.
To get a sense of the seriousness of the facts, since May 10, the Hutukara Yanomami Association reports a terror routine with intimidation and shooting attacks on the Palimiu community. The most recent occurred around 11 pm on Wednesday (12), when miners divided into 40 boats fired heavily on the village. Daily, miners travel the rivers of the region, whose control was taken by them, displaying and transporting ostentatious weaponry as a threat.
Unfortunately, there’s nothing new about the situation in the Yanomami Indigenous Land. The report “Massacres no campo”, by the Pastoral da Terra Commission, records attacks by landgrabbers against Yanomamis since the 1980s. In 1987, 7 indigenous people were murdered and 47 injured after the invasion of 150 landgrabbers in the Serra de Couto Magalhães. In April of the following year, 1988, 8 Yanomami were killed after fighting in the Paapiú region. In 1993, the village Haximu, on the border with Venezuela, was surprised by an attack by heavily armed miners, resulting in a bloody massacre that killed 5 children and 5 adults, including women and elderly. The novelty of this wave of attacks is evidence of the participation of criminal organizations linked to drug trafficking in gold mining activities, especially in regions with greater gold extraction.
Another form of violence committed is the conflicts caused by langrabbers between the Yanomami communities themselves. In 2013, an armed confrontation between Yanomami resulted in 5 indigenous people killed and 7 injured in the Alto Alegre region. At the time, there were reports that langrabbers were arming Yanomami in exchange for permission to illegally mine gold in the territory. Other attacks and threats in February and April this year had also been reported by the Hutukara Yanomami Association.
It is necessary to highlight that the langrabbers activity aggravates the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic in the territory, since they are vectors of the disease, and its presence implies tension, conflicts and psychological damage. In addition, outbreaks of malaria, lack of health care and food insecurity weigh on the lives of communities in the Yanomami indigenous land. The landgrabbers took a strategic point on the Uraricoera and Parima rivers by assault, charging tolls and making it difficult for indigenous people to access and circulate within their territory.
Predatory exploitation of natural resources has always been a problem on our land. In the name of profit, they destroy, pollute, rape and kill the environment and native peoples. Public authorities should have taken steps to safeguard indigenous lives. However, today, we are forced to warn again about the imminent possibility of a new massacre.
Apib filed a request with the Federal Supreme Court, on May 11, through ADPF 709 to demand the removal of invaders from Yanomami indigenous land. The Brazilian State is aware of the worsening tensions and its choices will say what the institutions’ priorities are: to neglect the situation and, therefore, not to fight illegal mining or to protect the right to life of the indigenous peoples of the Yanomami Indigenous Land.
Thus, we sympathize and endorse the complaints made by the organizations Hutukara Yanomami Association and Wanassedume Ye’kwana Association. We reiterate that we will not rest while our peoples are under attack.
May 13, 2021,
APIB – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil
COIAB – Coordination of Indigenous Organizations in the Brazilian Amazon
Regional grassroots organizations:
APOINME – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo
SOUTHEAST ARPIN – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples in the Southeast
ARPINSUL – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the South
ATY GUASU – Great Assembly of the Guarani people
Guarani Yvyrupa Commission
Terena People’s Council
30/Apr/2021
The Federal Government once again tries to criminalize the indigenous movement, intimidate the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), our network of grassroots organizations, and one of Apib’s executive coordinators, the leadership Sonia Guajajara, in an act of political and racist persecution.
During the month of the largest indigenous mobilization in Brazil and the week following the ‘Climate Summit’ meeting, the Federal Police summoned Sonia, on April 26, to testify in an investigation provoked by the National Indian Foundation (Funai). The body, whose institutional mission is to protect and promote the rights of the peoples of Brazil, accuses Apib of defaming the Federal Government with the web-series “Maracá” (http://bit.ly/SerieMaraca), which denounces violations of rights committed against indigenous peoples in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. These complaints have already been recognized by the Supreme Federal Court (STF) through ADPF 709.
The racist and hateful speeches of the Federal Government stimulate violations against our communities and paralyze the State actions that should promote assistance, protection and guarantees of rights. And now, the Government seeks to intimidate indigenous peoples in a clear attempt to retrench our freedom of expression, which is the most important tool for denouncing human rights violations. Currently, more than half of the indigenous peoples have been directly affected by Covid-19, with more than 53 thousand confirmed cases and 1059 dead.
They will not trap our bodies and they will never silence our voices. We will continue to fight for the defense of the fundamental rights of indigenous peoples and for life!
Follow today, April 30, at 3:00 pm (Brasília time), the closure of the Terra Livre Camp with the positioning of Apib and its regional indigenous organizations on the case, which will be transmitted at apiboficial.org/atl2021
Indigenous blood, not a single drop more!
05/Apr/2021
UNION AND FIGHT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AGAINST VIRUSES THAT KILL US
Declaration of the Indigenous April – Camp Terra Livre 2021
520 years ago, the European invasion of our traditional territories decimated millions of original inhabitants and made thousands of peoples, cultures and languages disappear. A genocide that is one of the most tragic calamities known in human history.
For the colonizers and their descendants, however, the death project was understood to be successful, where the assassins were rewarded for the occupation of our lands and territories. Since then, we have been victims of spoilage, depletion, destruction, violence, prejudice, discrimination, racism, in short, ethnocidal and genocidal policies and practices.
In all phases of Brazilian history, the indigenous policy, following the continuous process of capitalism’s metamorphosis, served to extinguish us physically or culturally, through assimilationism, and integrationism, of the expeditions to “hunt of indigenous”, forged wars, removals, the civil-military regime, the expulsion from our territories, persecutions, murders and massacres.
The Federal Constitution of 1988 put an end to this history written with the blood of our ancestors. After intense mobilizations and struggles by our peoples and leaders, Brazil’s main law has come to recognize that the country is diverse, multi-ethnic and multicultural, establishing our right to exist as parts of the State, with autonomy and maintaining our identity and our differences. The Constitution recognized, therefore, the indigenous peoples, our customs, languages, beliefs, traditions and the right to the lands that they traditionally occupy, which is an original, natural, congenital right, that is to say, of prior origin to the national state constitution. As a result of these recognitions, our peoples have earned the right to differentiated public policies, such as the ou lands demarcation and protection, indigenous school education and health care, through the subsystem currently managed by the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (SESAI) and the Special Indigenous Sanitary Districts (DSEIs).
The Brazilian State, its elites and successive rulers, however, have always treated us as obstacles to their projects of development, occupation and death. Hence, it can be understood why the State has never structured itself to fulfill and make the precepts constitutional a reality.
During the democratic life of Brazil, until the institutional rupture as a coup in 2016, we achieved some advances, always with a lot of struggle, such as: the demarcation of indigenous lands, participation in instances of deliberation and social control of the policies that concern us, having as maximum expression the National Commission for Indigenous Policy (CNPI); the creation of SESAI; the construction and promulgation of the National Policy for Territorial and Environmental Management of Indigenous Lands (PNGATI) and the impossibility of anti-indigenous legislative initiatives such as PEC 215 and the mining bill on indigenous lands.
With the election of the current president, Jair Bolsonaro, our indigenous peoples were once again targeted by a death project, which, as in the days of the European colonial invasion, is intended to usurp, drain and chase us away from our territories, in favor the empire of capital: agribusiness, mining, livestock, logging and so many other ways of destroying Mother Nature, with which we will run the risk of dying together, physically and / or culturally, since we are part of it.
Essa política, que nós temos denunciado reiteradamente como genocida e ecocida, encontrou na Pandemia da Covid-19 um solo fértil para “passar a boiada”, o que tem levado ao aumento da violência e dos conflitos, inclusive entre parentes, conflitos esses alimentados pelo próprio governo com objetivo de dividir, enfraquecer e desmobilizar os nossos povos, organizações e lideranças na batalha contínua de defender e garantir o respeito a direitos fundamentais.
The viruses that kill us!
We denounce the smear, intimidation and criminalization campaign promoted by members of the current government against our movement and our leaders. The neglect of this hate and racist policy practiced against our peoples is even more evident in this pandemic context.
The Federal Government is the main transmitting agent of Covid-19 among indigenous peoples. Without effective policies to face the pandemic, we affirm that the Bolsonaro government neglected its obligation to protect workers and users of the Indigenous Health Subsystem and, thus, favored the entry of the virus in several territories. We emphasize that it is the managing agency duty, the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (SESAI), to provide the appropriate inputs, training and protocols for the safety of workers and users.
With speeches laden with racism and hatred, Bolsonaro encourages violence against our communities and paralyzes the actions of the State that should promote assistance, protection and guarantees of rights. It tries to take advantage of the “opportunity” of this crisis to proceed with a series of decrees, ordinances, normative instructions, provisional measures and bills that attempt to legalize crimes and diminish the constitutional rights of indigenous peoples.
Bolsonaro’s genocidal policy during the Covid-19 pandemic is reinforced with repeated actions to deny the vaccine, which is the main weapon to fight the virus, and neglect in the immunization campaign management. The government’s determination to vaccinate only indigenous people living in homologated lands is another action of violence, as it excludes indigenous people who live in urban areas, repossessed and indigenous lands in the process of demarcation.
With this decision, obscurantism, ignorance and authoritarianism, which mark the hideous dictatorship of the Jair Bolsonaro government, translate into a death plan against the indigenous peoples of Brazil, since the immunization plan excludes 42.3% of a population estimated at 896,900 by the demographic census carried out by the IBGE in 2010. As if that were not enough, allied sectors, members of the government and Bolsonaro himself spread countless false information to indigenous communities that induced many indigenous people to reject the vaccine against Covid -19.
We decided not do die!
Faced with all this violent scenario that surrounds us and the many lives lost during the pandemic, we from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), together with all our grassroots organizations, reinforce our commitment to fight for the lives of our peoples .
Throughout the pandemic, we reinvented our online mobilizations and renewed our strategies for fighting. We created the Indigenous Emergency plan to support sanitary barriers in hundreds of territories. We guarantee food security for more than 10,000 families. We distributed more than 300,000 health safety equipment, supporting indigenous health teams across the country. We achieved, in an unprecedented way, the recognition of the Supreme Federal Court, which admitted Apib as an entity that can bring direct actions in the Brazilian main court of justice and we won a victory with ADPF 709, which obliges the Federal Government to adopt measures to protect the Indigenous peoples.
The pandemic is not over and the violence remains intense, we need to be united and mobilized. In this sense, we at Apib, with our grassroots organizations, have called the 17th Camp Terra Livre 2021, to strengthen the struggle efforts of our Indigenous April.
After the worst month of March of our lives, we will bring the April of the greatest mobilization of our struggles! We saw more than 1000 of our people fall into the covid-19 pandemic, and we felt the pain of the loss of our old people. But we, indigenous peoples, also have the strength of our ancestors on our side.
Parentes, esse é um chamado pela nossa união. Precisamos estar organizados e mobilizados pela vacinação de todos os indígenas, pela garantia dos nossos direitos fundamentais, em especial do nosso direito territorial brutalmente massacrado por este governo neofacista, e pelo bem viver da nossa Mãe Terra.
NUNCA MAIS UM BRASIL SEM NÓS! Essa é uma afirmação que fortalecemos ano após ano. Estamos nas redes, aldeias, universidades, cidades, prefeituras, câmaras legislativas federais, estaduais e municipais e seguiremos lutando contra o racismo e a violência que oprime e mata.
Em um mundo doente e enfrentando um projeto de morte, nossa luta ainda é pela vida, contra todos os vírus que nos matam!
Indigenous peoples, this is a call for our union. We need to be organized and mobilized for the vaccination of all indigenous people, for the guarantee of our fundamental rights, especially our territorial right brutally slaughtered by this neo-fascist government, and for the good life of our Mother Earth.
NEVER AGAIN A BRAZIL WITHOUT US! This is a statement that we strengthen year after year. We are in networks, villages, universities, cities, city halls, federal, state and municipal legislative chambers and we will continue to fight against racism and the violence that oppresses and kills.
In a sick world and facing a death project, our fight is still for life, against all the viruses that kill us!
For the life and historical continuity of our peoples, “Tell the people to move forward”.
Our fight is still for Life, not just the virus!
Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil – APIB
Brazil, April 5, 2021
APIB regional organizations:
APOINME – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo
SOUTHEAST ARPIN – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Southeast
ARPINSUL – Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of the South
ATY GUASU – Great Assembly of the Guarani people
Guarani Yvyrupa Commission
Terena People’s Council
COIAB – Coordination of Indigenous Organizations in the Brazilian Amazon
12/Feb/2020
The undersigned organizations – representing indigenous peoples, anthropologists, social, environmental and human rights defenders – that make up the National Indigenous Mobilization (MNI) network express their categorical rejection of Bill No. 191/20, submitted by the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro, to the Federal Congress on February 6 of this year. The bill purports to regulate research into and exploration of mineral resources, hydrocarbons, and hydroelectric power on indigenous lands. The bill fulfills many of this President’s twisted dreams. Since being inaugurated he has defended the economic exploitation of indigenous territories, a policy that represents a nightmare scenario for indigenous peoples.
Once again Bolsonaro has shown his disrepect for democracy, the rule of law, human rights, the Federal Constitution, and international treaties recognizing indigenous rights that Brazil has historically respected. Bill 191/20, recently submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, proposes to open up indigenous territories to the exploitation of minerals, water resources and even agriculture. The law’s proponents claim they merely wish to fulfill the Brazilian Constitution, which clearly expresses the federal government’s duty to protect indigenous territories.
The President and his supporters’ real intent, however is to open indigenous lands up to exploitation by Brazilian and international capital. This project would sentence thousands of indigenous peoples to death. Under this proposal indigenous territories would no longer be recognizable. It would lead to the violation of indigenous peoples’ rights and autonomy, which are secured by law in the Brazilian Constitution and in international treaties. The bill would irreversibly damage indigenous peoples’ exclusive sovereignty over their territory.
Indeed, the project proposes to move indigenous peoples from a state of sovereignty to a state of guardianship, in which they no longer make decisions over how to manage their territory. Instead, the President could move forward with economic development projects on indigenous territories by submitting the action to a purely procedural “consultation.” It also hands the administration of financial resources over to an advisory council that may consist of only three indigenous people and that will be able to decide on its own which groups legitimately represent the interests of affected indigenous communities.
This bill is authoritarian, neocolonial, violent, racist, and genocidal, especially with regard to voluntarily isolated and recently contacted indigenous peoples. The bill resumes an ethnocidal and genocidal perspective against indigenous peoples, contrary to what the Federal Constitution advocates in Articles 231 and 232, because, in addition to eliminating protective policies, it alters the status of currently recognized indigenous territories and points in the direction of no longer recognizing any new indigenous territories. Such policies also contradict various international treaties that Brazil is a party to. We express our utter repudiation and dissent with regard to this bill and its unpredictable impacts. We are united in struggle with the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil in defense of the full extent of their rights as the original inhabitants of this country.
Brasilia, February 10, 2020
Signed:
Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil – APIB
Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Nordeste, Minas Gerais e Espirito Santo – APOINME
Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Sul – ARPINSUL
Associação Floresta Protegida
Associação Indígena Moratu do Xingu – AIMIX
Aty Guasú
Centro de Trabalho Indigenista – CTI
Comissão Guarani Yvyrupa
Comitê Nacional de Defesa dos Territórios Frente a Mineração – CNDTFM
Conselho das Aldeias Wajãpi – Apina
Conselho Indigenista Missionário – CIMI
Conselho Terena
Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira – COIAB
Indigenistas Associados – INA
Instituto de Estudos Socioeconômicos – INESC
Instituto Internacional de Educação no Brasil – IIEB
Instituto de Pesquisa e Formação Indígena – IEPÉ
Instituto Socioambiental – ISA
Operação Amazônia Nativa – OPAN
Rede de Cooperação Amazônica – RCA
Greenpeace Brasil
Instituto, Sociedade, População e Natureza – ISPN,
Movimento dos Atingidos pela Mineração – MAM
