Environmental groups are warning that one of the first moves taken by Brazil’s newly sworn-in president will leave the Amazon rainforest open to greater exploitation.
Jair Bolsonaro was sworn in to office on Tuesday. Hours later, he issued an executive order transferring responsibility for the regulation public forests and lands claimed by indigenous peoples to the country’s agriculture ministry.
The ministry is widely viewed as being under the control of the agribusiness lobby and the country’s indigenous leaders have warned that the move will lead to an increase in deforestation and violence against indigenous people.
The decree strips responsibility for decisions on land claimed by indigenous peoples from the indigenous affairs agency FUNAI - with the Agriculture Ministry now responsible for “identification, delimitation, demarcation and registration of lands traditionally occupied by indigenous people.”
Responsibility for the Brazilian Forestry Service has also been moved from the Environment Ministry to agriculture.
Defending the policy in a tweet, President Bolsonaro said: “More than 15% of national territory is demarcated as indigenous land and quilombos. Less than a million people live in these places, isolated from true Brazil, exploited and manipulated by NGOs. Together we will integrate these citizens.”
Mais de 15% do território nacional é demarcado como terra indígena e quilombolas. Menos de um milhão de pessoas vivem nestes lugares isolados do Brasil de verdade, exploradas e manipuladas por ONGs. Vamos juntos integrar estes cidadãos e valorizar a todos os brasileiros.
— Jair M. Bolsonaro (@jairbolsonaro) January 2, 2019
However former presidential candidate and minister for the environment Marina Silva said President Bolsonaro had “begun his government in the worst possible way” and warned that the order will see an increase in violence against indigenous peoples.
Ao transferir a prerrogativa de demarcar terras indígenas e quilombolas para o Ministério da Agricultura, o governo Bolsonaro oferece ao algoz a oportunidade de ser ainda mais violento contra aqueles que tem sido, ao longo da história, suas maiores vítimas.
— Marina Silva (@MarinaSilva) January 2, 2019
