29/Jun/2021
The Supreme Court will consolidate its legal interpretation on the rights of indigenous peoples over their lands. The Time Limit Trick is a pseudo-legal interpretative framework developed by political sectors to limit Indigenous land rights in order to enable the economic exploitation of Indigenous territories.
Brasília Brazil, June 29, 2021 – Tomorrow, June 30, 2021, Brazil’s Supreme Court (STF) begins the trial that will define the future of the Indigenous Land demarcations in Brazil.
The Court will analyze the land repossession lawsuit filed by the state government of Santa Catarina against the Xokleng people, concerning the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous Land, where the Guarani and Kaingang peoples also live. In 2019, the Supreme Court applied the status of “general repercussion” to the suit, which means that the decision will serve as a guideline for the Brazilian federal government and all instances of Justice regarding demarcation procedures.
The ministers will also analyze the ruling of Minister Edson Fachin, of May 2020, which suspends the effects of Opinion 001/2017 of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU). The Opinion institutionalizes the so-called “Marco Temporal (Time Limit Trick),” among other issues, and has been used by the federal government to paralyze and even reverse the demarcation of Indigenous lands. In that same ruling, Minister Fachin suspended, until the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, all legal proceedings that could result in evictions of Indigenous groups in repossession suits or in the annulment of demarcation procedures. This decision must also be discussed by the court.
The Time Limit Trick is a pseudo-legal interpretative framework developed by political sectors – such as the agribusiness lobby – which seek to limit Indigenous land rights in order to enable the economic exploitation of Indigenous territories. In blatant opposition to the constitutional norms which enshrine Indigenous territorial rights, the “Temporal Mark” framework postulates that Indigenous peoples are only entitled to the lands they occupied on the date of the promulgation of the Brazilian Federal Constitution – i.e. October 5th, 1988.Alternatively, if they were not physically on the lands, they would need to have been part of a legal dispute or in a material conflict proven by the area on that same date.
In addition to contradicting the Brazilian Constitutional framework – which does not establish any temporal limitations to Indigenous land rights – this hypothesis is unfair, as it disregards expulsions, forced removals and all the violence Indigenous peoples have endured before the Brazilian Constitution was enacted. Furthermore, it ignores the fact that, until 1988, Indigenous groups were under the tutorship of federal government, and lacked the autonomy to file lawsuits in their own name.
The trial was previously scheduled for June 11, but was suspended after Minister Alexandre de Moraes requested the matter to be discussed in a separate, more detailed plenary session only one minute after the trial began. The other ministers didn’t even cast their votes. Nonetheless, the vote of the rapporteur, Minister Edson Fachin, was made public.
The trial will be broadcast on TV Justiça, with the presentation and debate on the votes. The trial is not expected to be concluded on that date or even in the special session, already scheduled for the following day,July 1, because ministers can ask to analyze the matter more carefully, taking it under advisement, suspending and postponing the session for an uncertain date.
The Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous Land is located between the municipalities of Doutor Pedrinho, Itaiópolis, Vitor Meireles and José Boiteux, 236 km northwest of Florianópolis (SC). The area has a long history of demarcations and disputes, crossing the 20th century, during which it was drastically reduced. It was identified through studies by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) in 2001, and declared by the Ministry of Justice as belonging to the Xokleng people in 2003. They have never stopped claiming the right to their ancestral territory.
What do the participants in the proceeding say?
“The delay in demarcating indigenous lands is very troubling. Because, as time goes by, difficulties for the demarcation of land in Brazil increase. Indigenous peoples need to have their traditional rights acknowledged. And we would like the general repercussion to be ruled in our favor, and that we stop talking about a Time Limit Trick.”
Brasílio Priprá, one of the leaders of the Xokleng
“We expect the Supreme Court adopt a fairer, more reasonable interpretation that can help to enforce our rights. And that it no longer resorts, for example, to the temporal framework principle to limit the recognition of rights to us, indigenous peoples, which has been happening for the last ten years. But the Court can also strengthen our struggle in this confrontation with other powers, which use the Time Limit Trick as a criterion for the restriction of rights.”
Samara Pataxó, attorney for the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB)
“The way the people lost their territory was the most violent, vilest, the most terrible. At the beginning of the last century, there was demarcation without technical criteria. In the 1920s, a significant part of the territory was lost. In 1950, the same thing happened. Afterwards, the construction of a dam took away the best lands. And in this context, the dispute of the Xokleng people takes place, so that the return of these stolen areas is in fact secured.”
Rafael Modesto, attorney for the Xokleng community and legal advisor to the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI).
Rise for the Earth
Indigenous peoples from all regions of the country have mobilized against the Time Limit Trick principle. Since June 8, around 850 leaders from 50 peoples have been mobilized at the Rise for the Earth camp, in Brasília, against the advance of the anti-indigenous agenda by the Bolsonaro government and the rural bench in Congress.
“The camp is a call from the land to all peoples in Brazil, for us to show this genocidal who the true owners of the land are. We are in Brasília to guarantee our original rights and to say ‘stop genocidal Bolsonaro and his Machiavellian projects against the indigenous populations’,” says Kretã Kaingang, APIB’s coordinator.
Indigenous peoples in all territories have been mobilizing for weeks against the “evil package” that is being processed in the National Congress, such as Bill 490/2007, which opens indigenous lands to predatory economic exploitation and makes it impossible, in practice, that new demarcations be made. In the highway obstructions, rituals and prayers, the indigenous peoples also take a stand against the temporal framework principle, which seeks to restrict their constitutional rights.
29/Jun/2021
On Monday (28), Apib – Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil held an international meeting with non-governmental partner institutions and other stakeholders to discuss the emergency situation in Brazil. Convened the previous Friday, the meeting was attended by over 200 people from 26 countries from all regions of the world. This demonstrates the international interest in the situation experienced by Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, and the relevance of Apib as a global authority on issues involving indigenous peoples and the preservation of the environment.
During the meeting, which lasted about two hours, Apib leaders shared the institution’s view on the threats that are mounting in the National Congress against the territorial rights of indigenous peoples, especially in the context of Bill 490 of 2007. This Bill transfers to the Congress the responsibility of demarcating Indigenous Lands, which submits indigenous peoples to the interests of each legislature composition. Currently, the strong presence of agribusiness and the military would make it practically impossible to advance in the demarcation of territories that have not yet had their process concluded. On the contrary: there is the risk of regression, with the annulment of the approval of Indigenous Lands already consolidated.
Attorney Luiz Eloy Terena, of the Legal Coordination of Apib, also spoke about the trial by the Federal Supreme Court (STF) of the Special Appeal involving the Ibirama-Laklãnõ Indigenous Land, of the Xokleng people in Santa Catarina state. This action, which may be resumed by the STF plenary later this week, debates the thesis of the “temporal milestone” for the demarcation of indigenous lands, which has the status of “general repercussion”, meaning that the decision ruled in the case will guide future judicial decisions, legislative initiatives and even public policies on this issue.
Sônia Guajajara, Executive Coordinator of Apib, mediated the entire meeting directly from the Rise for the Earth Camp, which was established in Brasilia over a month ago and currently brings together about a thousand indigenous people who came from all regions of Brazil, even during the pandemic, to defend their rights. She informed the participants about the intense agenda of mobilizations planned for the coming months.
The Executive Coordinator of Apib, Dinaman Tuxá, also present at the meeting, shared with the international partners a broad vision of the violence and threats experienced by Indigenous Peoples in Brazil, which include constant attempts to invade their lands.
Towards an International Indigenous Mobilisation
Marielle Ramirez, an Apib collaborator, reinforced the importance of the support of international partners to strengthen the struggle of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil. “What we are proposing is more than the participation in a tweet, in a Petition: we propose a permanent articulation, which is constantly aware of the threats we live in Brazil”, said Sônia Guajajara.
Apib already has a strengthened network of partners around the world, and hopes to reinforce this network with the International Indigenous Mobilization through a series of meetings and political alignments that will intensify in July, such as dialogue with UN institutions, with Embassies and Diplomatic Representations in Brazil, among others.
If you or your institution wish to be part of this Mobilization and receive more information about Apib’s actions, please register by clicking here.
23/Jun/2021
Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies and of the Commission of Constitution and Justice maneuver to approve bill that allows the annulment of Indigenous Territories and makes demarcations unfeasible
Under the leadership of ruralists and Bolsonaro’s allies, the Chamber’s Commission of Constitution and Justice (CCJ) approved, by 40 votes to 21, the Bill (PL) 490/2007. The voting ended this afternoon, June 23, after a battle of requests and procedural issues posed by opposition members, who tried to withdraw the bill from the agenda throughout the day. This Thursday, the commission analyzes eight of deputy Arthur Maia’s provisions on the bill, after which the legislation goes to a plenary vote, at an undermined date. The indigenous movement remains mobilized against the anti-indigenous agenda in Congress.
The president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and the president of the Commission, Bia Kicis (PSL-DF), maneuvered to delay the beginning of the main plenary session, allowing the committee meeting to be extended, and the bill to be approved. Since mid-morning, Kicis rejected, one by one, the numerous claims, requests for a public hearing and calls for dialogue with the Indigenous movement, which for weeks has been demanding to be heard regarding the proposal, as determined both by the Constitution and Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The PL 490 is a top priority for Jair Bolsonaro and for the ruralist caucus that claims to represent agribusiness. The bill will make demarcations unfeasible, allow the annulment of Indigenous Territories and pry them open to predatory projects, such as mining, roads and major hydroelectric plants. The bill is unconstitutional, as assessed by members of the Indigenous movement and legal experts.
Kicis suspended the commission’s meeting scheduled for yesterday, after a peaceful protest by Indigenous people against PL 490 turned violent as police outside the Chamber approached in riot gear. In an act considered unusual and authoritative, she established the proposal as the only item on today’s agenda.
Police violence left three Indigenous people injured and another ten had sustained minor injuries from the confrontation. The demonstrators were protesting peacefully in the parking lot of Annex 2 of the Chamber, when they were violently attacked by the Military Police, with rubber bullets and tear gas. Children and elderly people were among the protesters.
In a statement, 170 organizations (Indigenous and allies in the resistance of the original peoples) expressed their repudiation regarding the repression carried out against the demonstrators in Brasília. “The Indigenous people who left their communities, at a time when the pandemic is still raging in the country, to take their indignation to the streets against the violent advance of various sectors on their territories are those willing to help society build a new path,” says an excerpt of the release. Read the full document here.
“What we want is for the law to be enforced, for the Federal Constitution to be upheld. This bill can nullify the demarcation of Indigenous lands in the country – it is an aggression against the original peoples,” said Dinamam Tuxá, Executive Coordinator of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB).
The demonstration is part of the Rise for Earth Camp (Acampamento Levante da Terra), which has been set up next to the National Theater, in Brasília, for the past three weeks, to protest against the anti-Indigenous agenda of the government and Congress, as well as in defense of favorable decisions at the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Approximately 850 Indigenous people from 48 different peoples from all regions of Brazil, are gathered in the Camp. They are all vaccinated and following sanitary protocols (physical distancing, use of masks and constant hand hygiene).
Unconstitutionality
“Our Constitution cannot be changed by any selfish, personal interest from those who look greedily toward Indigenous Territories. This is the look we see on all the speeches that want to get PL 490 approved. Pure greed for the natural resources of the Indigenous lands, which are guaranteed by the Federal Constitution,” criticized Deputy Joenia Wapichana (Rede-RR).
According to the parliamentarian, the legislative procedure in the Commission was flawed, precisely because it failed to recognize that the matter is unconstitutional. Deputy Wapichana recalled that any regulation of Article 231 of the Constitution, which provides for Indigenous rights, should be done through a Supplementary Law Bill, and not through an Ordinary Law Project, as is the case with PL 490.
Several opposition parliamentarians recalled that the Federal Supreme Court should rule on several of the points provided for in PL 490, such as the “Temporal Mark”. This is a thesis by the ruralist caucus, which claims that Indigenous communities would only have the right to the lands that were in their possession as of October 5, 1988, the date on which the Constitution was enacted.
“They try to rush this matter into a bill so that there could be a competition with the Supreme Court. This is absurd,” Wapichana stressed.
Prejudice and discrimination against Indigenous People
Yesterday and today, government deputies made speeches that can be considered prejudiced and discriminatory against the protesters of this bill and Indigenous peoples in general. Deputy Alê Silva (PSL-MG) even compared Indigenous reserves to “human zoos” and accused the demonstrators outside the Congress of “troublemakers” and referred to them as “dumb.”
Yesterday, Arthur Lira accused Indigenous people of using drugs on the roof of the parliament. “Last week, some representatives of the Indians arrived here, invaded the National Congress, climbed to the top of the domes and sat there using some kind of drug,” he said, with no any proof whatsoever.
Joênia Wapichana also announced that she will file a complaint to the Ethics Council against another leader of Bolsonaro’s shock troop, Carla Zambelli (PSL-SP). According to Wapishana, when she met Zambelli in the Chamber’s corridors, she stated that “your Indians are murderers” and that Joênia would not represent the Indigenous People in the Chamber.
23/Jun/2021
Note from the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil
Brasilia June 23, 2021
We struggle with our prayers and chants. Our shields are the maracas and our ancestry. The Government welcomes the agrobusiness through the front door and the indigenous people with gas bombs, pepper spray, rubber bullets, riot police and hate!
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, we decided to mobilize the Rise for Earth camp, in Brasília, and prevent the advance of the Federal Government’s anti-indigenous agenda. For the first time in history, a president of the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) closes the dialogue and represses the indigenous movement using heavy police force in the federal capital.
We are attentive to Bill 490, which is on the voting agenda of the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ). An unconstitutional proposal that could end the demarcation of Indigenous Lands. Since the 8th of June we have been holding demonstrations against the bill vote, in the outskirts of Congress, but yesterday (22) our mobilization was repressed by the police in yet another attempt to silence our voices.
The Federal Constitution of 1988 is being torn down to violate our rights and increase environmental attacks. We decided to fight to the end to ensure not only the future of indigenous peoples, but also the future of humanity.
We know that the attacks will not stop and that we are not privileged to stop fighting. We will continue in the federal capital, swinging our maracas so that the whole world knows the importance of our lives until the last indigenous person.
We have no choice or we die from the virus or we are slaughtered by the Government’s death policy. We cannot suffer so much violence without reacting. We are in this fight for life and that is why we continue to shout: Indigenous blood, not a single drop more!
For the life and historical continuity of our peoples, “Tell the people to move forward”.
Articulation of Indigenous People of Brazil
Apib regional base organizations:
APOINME – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of the Northeast, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo
ARPIN SUDESTE – Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of 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
COIAB – Coordination of Indigenous Organizations in the Brazilian Amazon
22/Jun/2021
A group of indigenous people, including some children and elderlies, was attacked by the police this afternoon, during a pacific demonstration against the deliberation about Bill 490/2007 by the Brazilian National Assembly. The legal proposition that can nullify the process of demarcating indigenous lands finds itself included in the agenda of the National Assembly Commission for the Constitution and Justice. The attacks took place at the Assembly parking lot, with the use of rubber bullets, stun bombs and tear gas.
Two indigenous people (a man and a woman) are under observation due severe injuries in the “Hospital de Base” in Brasília. Around ten children, elderlies and women had light injuries and needed to be treated by the health care service from the Rise for the Earth camp, organised by Apib – Brazilian Indigenous People Association. The emergencial care for the injured people was made difficult by the police, as can be observed in some videos that record the precise moment of the attack.
The protesters were marching together by the Esplanada dos Ministérios (avenue where the most part of National Ministries are situated), when they were reached by the police, close to the National Assembly entrance. There were no action or incident caused by the indigenous people to justify the violent reaction from the police forces. According to the protesters, there were members of several police forces assembled, with a large number of repression equipment, including one ‘caveirão” (a military tank used by the police during special operations against Brazilian citizens) and a mounted troop.
This indigenous parade is part of the Rise for the Earth Camp, situated close to the National Theater during the last three weeks. Around 850 indigenous people are gathered at this camp – they belong to 48 different peoples from all Brazilian regions. They are moved by the legislative innovations under appreciation by the National Assembly that threaten their rights, mainly territorial ones.
“The relatives just came to protest against the 490 Bill, that will terminate the policy of indigenous land demarcation, and the police arrived already with their bombs. They can gather to retreat our rights, however, when we try to manifest in reaction, we are received with violence”, stated Alessandra Korak Mundukuru. “We are here along with children and elderlies, many people were hurt”, she finishes.
The struggle keeps alive
The session of the Commission for the Constitution and Justice was postponed – it is expected to be resumed tomorrow. During the police attack, some congressmen allied to the indigenous agenda formed a kind of barrier to restrain the troops that kept threatening the indigenous people who performed their rituals and chants. Afterwards, several oppositional congressmen assembled with the protesters. They criticized the police action and promised to denounce it before the National Assembly president, Congressman Arthur Lira.
The 490 Bill is a demand from ruralist and Bolsonarist congressmen, and, if ruled, it will avoid new demarcations, allow the nullification of Indigenous Lands, and deliver those lands to predatory enterprises, such as minery, roads and hydroelectric plants. This is an unconstitutional rule that represents an open door for a new genocide of indigenous peoples.
16/Jun/2021
(FUNAI is the National Foundation responsible for developing public policies regarding indigenous peoples and territories. This institution should provide the appropriate conditions for a peaceful and fulfilling life for brazilian indigenous people, including safety and protection against any threat or violence)
We, indigenous peoples gathered at the Rise for the Earth Camp, in Brasília, have been mobilized for more than 10 days against the anti-indigenous agenda that is currently under appreciation by the Executive, Legislative and Judiciary Powers. This agenda includes legal innovations that put all indigenous lives at risk.
Still under the restrictions of the pandemic, with most of us vaccinated – vaccination that only happened due to a lot of struggle from the indigenous movement, we brought together more than 1,000 indigenous people from all regions of Brazil to state: the police chief Marcelo Xavier is no longer the president for FUNAI!
This is the worst term in the Foundation’s history, which failed to fulfill the function of protecting and promoting the rights of indigenous peoples, in order to negotiate our lives and use them for the benefit of shady and private interests from agribusiness, illegal mining and so many other threats that put our existence at risk.
A police chief who has turned Funai into the “Foundation for the Indigenous People Intimidation”, an institution that is currently closer to a political police service, that persecutes and criminalizes indigeneous leaderships. It institutes anti-indigenous administrative acts, such as Normative Instruction No. 09 and others; negotiates measures in the National Congress, such as the position he expressed in favor of indigenous peoples’ enemies before the National Assembly Commission for the Constitution and Justice (CCJ), bizarrely asking for the approval of 490 bill.
In practice, this bill terminates the policy of demarcating indigenous lands in the country, and still opens up the possibility of revising previously demarcated lands.
Enough of nonsense!
Dump Marcelo Xavier!
28/May/2021
All our Munduruku people are outraged with the cancellation of the Federal Police operation in our region. The operation cannot end now, when the invaders are attacking the leaders. We are unable to understand how the operation leaves our territory at this moment of so much danger to us. We’re screaming for help!
We demand that this operation against illegal mining be continued and that the security forces return to expel all the miners that are still within our area and ensure the safety of our people. The mines have not been closed and our villages and leaders continue to be attacked and threatened. On the 26th May, Fazenda Tapajós village was invaded by these criminals with gunshots and the houses were set on fire.
Other villages and leaders are being threatened. If they do not arrest who is threatening us, we will die and it will be the fault of the federal government and everyone who encouraged the violence. We are dying poisoned by mercury and in danger of being murdered by the miners.
The miners protested and attacked the National Security Forces and after that the operation was withdrawn, leaving our region. The operation that was supposed to end illegal mining ended up obeying the invaders who work illegally and stopped the police operation. In the meantime, we leaders who protect our territory are living in constant fear that the worst will happen. We no longer have peace for our families within our own land and in our homes.
With the operation stalled and the security forces that promised to protect us have left, we are now left on our own in the middle of the conflict. The pariwat (white people) continue to set us against each other, without respecting our territory, our culture, our life and the future of our children. The government once again makes a premeditated move to kill us in our own land. A farce announced to protect criminals, which did not close mines within Munduruku Indigenous Land and did not manage to contain and prevent the attack on our leaderships, leaving the territory after being pressured by criminals, legitimizing all these illegal practices and giving strength to the invaders. We no longer want this type of inefficient operation, which leaves us even more unprotected. We want the lasting and effective presence of the State, fulfilling its constitutional duty to protect indigenous lands, complying with court decisions and the recommendations of the MPF to remove illegal mining from our lands and protect the lives of our people.
06/May/2021
APIB denounces to the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court and to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) political persecution of the Bolsonaro government against indigenous peoples
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) filed a report yesterday, 5, at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) and at the Federal Supreme Court (STF) about the Federal Government’s political persecutions against Apib and Sonia Guajajara, one of the executive coordinators of the organization.
On April 26, during the month of the largest indigenous mobilization in Brazil and in the week following the Climate Summit meeting, the Federal Police (PF) summoned Sonia to testify in an open police investigation by the National Indian Foundation (Funai). The governmental agency, 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 right violations committed against indigenous peoples in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We alert the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to the escalation of authoritarianism underway in Brazil. The democratic environment is at risk. In no republican and democratic state can the state apparatus be used under the discretion of its rulers. The free expression of thought and freedom of expression, supported by constitutional, conventional and legal principles, cannot be criminalized ”, reinforces Apib’s legal coordinator, Luiz Eloy Terena, in the report sent to the IACHR.
All violations of rights against indigenous peoples during the Covid-19 pandemic exposed by Apib in the Maracá series were presented to the STF in 2020, in the Fundamental Precept Failure Statement (ADPF) No. 709. On that occasion, the main court of the country acknowledged the complaints presented and determined that the Federal Government should adopt measures to protect the indigenous peoples. So far, the STF’s decision has been partially accepted by the government.
“The inquiry opened by the PF is a clear attempt to limit freedom to be critical, whether against the government or against its political agents, even if this is also part of the Democratic Rule of Law and that matters of public and social interest are under the tutelage of the constitutional cloak of the right to information ”, reinforced Eloy Terena in an excerpt from the complaint presented to the STF minister Roberto Barroso, who is the rapporteur for ADPF 709.
Inquiry suspended
On the same day of the denunciations made to the STF and IACHR, the Federal Court of the Federal District determined last night (5), at the request of Apib, to close the investigation opened by the Federal Police. Apib filed a lawsuit on May 3 to annul the investigation, which is an action of political persecution.
“It is also worth mentioning that the clear mention in FUNAI’s letter about alleged slanderous conduct against the President of the Republic suggests that the whole situation narrated has the main purpose of silencing political manifestations disclosed by an entity that stands against the present Federal Government”, federal judge Frederico Botelho argued in his decision.
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!
22/Apr/2021
We are here, we are for you and we are all one!
Dear Pacha Mama, generous Mother Earth,
We are gathered here in this act to once again reaffirm our commitment and willingness to defend you until the last of our sighs.
On this Earth Day, celebrated every April 22, we remember how generous you are, how much abundance you provide and how many gifts you offer to your sons and daughters.
We speak on behalf of those who understand you as an integrated ecosystem, in which the physical, biological, spiritual and energetic dimensions of our lives dance in a harmonious way, allowing an infinite number of beings to enjoy your work.
We speak on behalf of those who have a more intimate connection with you – the indigenous, the riverside communities, the quilombolas, the settlers, those born and raised in traditional populations – and who are used to the cycles of sowing and harvesting, which requires commitment from us, hard work, respect for nature and its wisdom.
We are currently under a great challenge – a pandemic of global proportions, caused by the careless and pretentious way in which we deal with your majestic creation.
This pandemic is taking our loved ones, but not only: it is changing our economy, our politics and the functioning of the society that we chose to be a few centuries ago.
We already understand that capitalism does not bring the answers that we want, and solutions that we need – and that is why it needs to be replaced by another way of looking at existence.
We dig for gold and ores, destroying everything around as if there were no tomorrow – and there always is;
We burn roots, branches and trunks, leaving ashes and charred remains where color and life used to be;
We allow our natural sanctuaries to be invaded and vandalized, causing deep wounds on your skin;
We pollute the waters, disrespecting rivers, lakes, seas and oceans, as well as all beings that depend on them;
We exterminate pollinators and launch gases that condemn all life.
The signs of our bad attitude are evident: the climate has changed; water is lacking for many; breathing is difficult in several places; fruits are scarce; and many of our people are forced to move in search of provisions and better living conditions;
But we ask you, Generous Mother who heals – do not give up on us.
Forgive those who have not yet understood the strength of the sacred feminine, the energy of women and the contributions they bring to our struggles and lives;
Forgive those who still advocate the supremacy of man over all other forms of life, without understanding that each animal, each plant, each river or waterfall, each valley or mountain, each forest or each savanna, has its raison d’être;
Forgive your children who have not yet understood that we are all one and that everything is connected;
Forgive your children who have not yet understood that life goes in cycles – there is no good fortune that does not cover its price, and there is no time of abundance without a period of scarcity. Therefore, balance is essential.
At this moment, with this letter:
We promise you with the strength of our maraca, genipap and annatto, to fight fully for life; making our bodies trees of our floors, the last frontiers in the struggle for life.
Beloved Mother,
Accept the requests of your children who know that without you nothing springs and nothing grows.
Help us to conceive a collective decolonial thought, closer to your demands, more horizontal in its visions, that properly values all your manifestations.
Only you know the future that we deserve.
But we trust in your love and your generosity to guide us towards a restorative transformation that will alleviate suffering and heal wounds.
We ask for your compassion and a little more patience.
We are here, we are for you and we are all one!
