2023-08-05 05:10:02
The Brazilian cacique Raoni Metuktire, one of the most internationally recognized defenders of indigenous peoples, demanded this Friday that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva speed up the process of demarcation of new indigenous lands in the country.
“I tell you that I have a dialogue with President Lula and I wanted to ask him for help to demarcate the lands that were not demarcated,” Raoni said at the official ceremony of the “Amazonian Dialogues,” which are held in the city of Belém prior to the summit of presidents that will take place next week.
Since it took power on January 1, Lula’s government has promised to guarantee security in indigenous reserves, which occupy about 12% of the national territory and have suffered in recent years from increased invasions by loggers, illegal miners, and poachers.
On April 28, Lula decreed the recognition of six new indigenous lands in the states of Acre, Alagoas, Amazonas, Ceará, Goiás and Río Grande do Sul, thus resuming regularization after four years of management by the far-right Jair Bolsonaro (2019 -2022), which paralyzed all ongoing processes.
Raoni, the main leader of the Kayapó ethnic group, claimed in his speech that the original peoples are “the first inhabitants of Brazil” and that they are still seen as “enemies.”
“Few people help us, almost all the people are against us,” he denounced.
The well-known Brazilian indigenous leader condemned mining and logging in the largest tropical forest on the planet because “they destroy and pollute the rivers.”
“All the indigenous people who get involved with mining” their destiny is “death”, he warned.
He also warned of the effects of the climate crisis: “The climate is changing, the Sun heats up more, everything is changing.”
Raoni, known worldwide for his fight for indigenous rights, for the protection of the environment and for the preservation of the Amazonspoke at the official opening ceremony of the “Amazon Dialogues”, which will last until Sunday.
The debates began this Friday morning and are intended to develop a series of proposals that civil society will present at the summit of leaders of the eight countries that make up the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA).
to the meeting, which will be held on the 8th and 9th, it is expected thatIn addition to Lula, the presidents Luis Arce (Bolivia), Gustavo Petro (Colombia), Dina Boluarte (Peru), Irfaan Ali (Guyana) and Nicolás Maduro (Venezuela).
The presidents of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, and of Suriname, Chan Santokhi, will not attend due to internal political issues in their respective countries.
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