Brazil's Bolsonaro proposes disputed bill to open up indigenous land

Indigenous people of Yudja tribe, perform a greeting dance during a four-day pow in Piaracu village in Xingu Indigenous Park, Mato Grosso state, Brazil, January 14, 2020. /Reuters Photo

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Wednesday introduced a controversial bill that opens up indigenous lands, many of them in the Amazon, to mining, agricultural activities and hydraulic energy production.

The president described the measure, which still needs approval in Congress, as a "dream" while indigenous leaders have labeled it a "genocide bill." The measure, which has not yet been published, allows both indigenous and third-party developers to participate in the new land development.

Bolsonaro vowed to integrate Brazil's roughly 900,000 indigenous people into the broader economy and society, while tapping the mineral riches and commercial farming potential of their 462 reservations.

"I hope that this dream... comes true," Bolsonaro said during a ceremony. "An indigenous person is a human being exactly like us, who has a heart, has a soul, has desires, has needs, and is as Brazilian as we are."

In a statement, the presidency said the "omission" of previous governments to regulate these activities had caused legal uncertainty "and encouraged illegal mining," adding the bill will be pressured by environmentalists.

"Those people, if I could, I would confine them to the Amazon region since they like the environment so much," said the president, who often frames pressure from environmentalists as a foreign conspiracy.

Some 600 Brazilian indigenous leaders gathered in the Amazon state of Mato Grosso in January to denounce what they called the government's "genocide, ethnocide and ecocide." Bolsonaro's government, however, maintains that many indigenous leaders support its projects.

According to a report last month by O Globo newspaper, a Brazilian newspaper based in Rio de Janeiro, the legislation drafted by the government would consult with indigenous communities on economic projects, but they would not have the power to veto projects decided by the government.

Environmentalists say such a move will speed up clearing of the Amazon jungle, the world's largest tropical rainforest, which is considered vital for slowing global climate change.

(With input from Reuters and AFP)