2023-12-15 14:34:36
The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara, and Congresswoman Célia Xakriabá protest against the ‘time frame’ in the Congress session | Geraldo Magela / Senado Agency
On Thursday afternoon (14), Congress overturned the vast majority of President Luís Inácio Lula da Silva’s vetoes to Law No. 14,701/2023, the biggest attack on indigenous rights in decades. Of the 47 vetoes analyzed by parliamentarians, 41 were rejected, by 321 votes to 137 and one abstention, in the Chamber, and 53 votes to 19, in the Senate.
Among the setbacks in the text of the new law, which will now be enacted, is the so-called “time frame” for the demarcations of Indigenous Lands (TIs). According to the ruralist thesis, only indigenous communities that were in possession on October 5, 1988, the date of promulgation of the Constitution, would have the right to their lands.
The interpretation ignores the expulsions and violence committed against these populations, especially in recent decades. In practice, it can make most demarcations unfeasible, due to administrative or judicial questions.
The vote was postponed for several weeks. Faced with an unfavorable balance of forces and the promises made by Lula to defend the rights of original peoples, the government had been trying to avoid a defeat that once again exposed the fragility of its parliamentary base.
Although government leaders defended the vetoes, members of the indigenous movement and civil society organizations accuse Planalto’s political articulation of using socio-environmental agendas as a bargaining chip to approve projects that would be more priority, especially on the economic agenda.
Part of the base took a stance against the vetoes (see how each deputy and senator voted). The most notorious case is that of the Minister of Agriculture, Carlos Fávaro (PSD-MT), who took leave from his position, resumed his mandate as senator and voted against the veto.
The vote challenges a recent decision by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), which declared the “time frame” thesis unconstitutional, by 9 votes against 2, in September. In the same decision, the Court’s ministers also established complementary theses on demarcation, such as compensation for bare land for non-indigenous occupants.
On the same day that the trial concluded, the Senate approved PL 2,903, now Law 14,701, in retaliation for what the opposition and ruralists consider to be a usurpation by the STF of parliamentarians’ competence to decide on this and other issues, such as decriminalization abortion and drug possession. Two weeks later, President Lula vetoed around two-thirds of the project, even justifying part of the vetoes with the Supreme Court’s decision.
Left-wing parliamentarians protest against the overturning of the veto on the ‘time frame’ in the Congress session | Jefferson Rudy | Senado AgencyVoting is not the end point
The result of the vote can be considered a defeat for the original peoples, social movements and organizations defending their rights, but it is not the end of this story. Shortly after the end of voting in Congress, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) and the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) informed that they should file lawsuits against the final text of the law in the STF. The reference for analyzing these possible actions will be the trial that ended in September.
“The decision of the National Congress disrespects the Constitution, indigenous peoples and the future of Brazil. We will contact the Federal Attorney General’s Office to file a Direct Unconstitutionality Action with the STF, to ensure compliance with the decision already taken by the high court” , said the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara.
“It is absurd that, while the world recognizes indigenous peoples and their territories as one of the alternatives to contain the climate crisis [por barrarem o desmatamento]the National Congress acts completely against what needs to be done to contain this global crisis”, reinforced the minister.
“Apib reinforces that rights cannot be negotiated and that the approval of the Temporal Framework is illegal”, pointed out the entity, in a note on social media. “The main Conference, which deals with climate change, COP 28, ended this week and the National Congress once again reinforces its commitment to death”, he added.
Throughout the day, around 300 indigenous people, from different regions of the country, protested in defense of the vetoes outside the Chamber. Deputies from the Parliamentary Front for the Defense of Indigenous Rights and left-wing parties spoke at the demonstration. After the vote, the protesters went to the front of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Apib leaders also promised a wave of mobilizations against the new law.
Indigenous people demonstrate against ‘time frame’ outside the Chamber of Deputies | @tukumapataxo / Apib’Reactionary view’
“Congress has just approved the biggest setback to indigenous rights since the Constituent Assembly. It is regrettable that parliament is dominated by a reactionary and mistaken vision, which wants to eliminate indigenous territorial rights through unconstitutional laws”, criticizes the lawyer for ISA Juliana de Paula Batista. “Now, the issue returns to the STF, which must reiterate its commitment to defending the rights of minorities”, she points out.
Rural leaders, such as the president of the Parliamentary Front for Agriculture (FPA), Pedro Lupion (PP-PR), signaled that they intend to react to a new decision by the STF against the “time frame” by approving a proposal that incorporates the thesis to the Constitution. This Thursday’s voting score indicates that it would be possible to reach the necessary votes: three-fifths of the votes of deputies (308) and senators (49).
Responding to the warning from some government members that the issue should end up once again in the STF, the leader of the opposition in the Senate, Rogério Marinho (PL-RN), reinforced his confrontational speech with the Court. “We are a free Parliament and we must not accept and tolerate restraints and gags,” he said. “Either we assert ourselves and give ourselves respect or no one will respect us”, he added.
“Ruralist parliamentarians do not seem to understand that the Powers are organized in a system of checks and balances. It is the role of the STF to defend the rights of minorities, even when the majority do not like it”, counters Julian Batista.
Points maintained in the law
In addition to the “time frame”, through an agreement with the ruralists, the vote maintained in the law the possibility that any interested party, at any time, can question the demarcation procedure; the guarantee of compensation for “bare land” to squatters invading indigenous territories; the guarantee that they are not removed from the area until compensation is paid; permission to implement military interventions and some economic ventures and projects, such as roads, without prior consultation with the indigenous communities involved.
On the other hand, vetoes were maintained on devices that allowed forced contact with isolated indigenous communities; the annulment of “indigenous reserves”, under the argument of the “cultural mischaracterization” of the indigenous community; the cultivation of transgenics in ILs.
Atlantic Forest Law
The Congress session had an outcome that was only a little less unfortunate for the protection of the country’s most threatened biome: the Atlantic Forest. Also through an agreement between the government and ruralists, vetoes on articles that could destroy the Atlantic Forest Law were maintained. Only one veto to Law No. 14,595/2023, former Provisional Measure (MP) 1,150/2022, approved by Congress in May, was rejected.
The MP changed the new Forest Code (nº 12,651/2012) so that rural producers can have up to one year after the “notification” (individual) from the state environmental agency to join the so-called Environmental Regularization Program (PRA). The problem is that, according to the new legislation, there is no time limit for this notification to be made by the government.
The Chamber of Deputies incorporated into the original text a series of changes to the Forest Code and the Atlantic Forest Law to remove restrictions on deforestation, benefit those who committed environmental crimes and weaken protected areas. Several of these proposals were considered “tortoises”, that is, devices that have no relation to the original wording of the MP. President Lula vetoed the vast majority of changes.
In this Thursday’s vote, only the veto was overturned on the provision that stated that, from the signing of the PRA commitment term and during its validity, the rural producer cannot be denied financing because of the environmental infractions subject to that term. Therefore, the proposal will be incorporated into legislation. All other vetoes relating to the relaxation of the Atlantic Forest Law were maintained.
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