RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday, December 19th, that raising cattle on indigenous land can help bring down the price of meat.
“We have to raise more cattle here to lower the price of meat. They can raise oxen,” the president said, addressing the indigenous people who were accompanying him in front of the Alvorada Palace.
Bolsonaro said he should send a single bill to Congress to regulate commercial exploitation of cattle, agriculture, and ore on indigenous lands. The president called the proposal “a golden law for the Indian,” in reference to the law that ended slavery in 1888.
“I want to give them independence. If they want to take the land, rent it for someone to plant soy, corn, do it. Respecting the law”, declared Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro said the bill is ready and the government is studying the best moment to deliver it to Congress.
The president claims he has seen leaders in the Chamber taking a stand against the bill. “Against why? They will continue exploiting their (indigenous) land. Extracting illegally, (as) has been happening”, said Bolsonaro.
Bolsonaro claims there is foreign interest in demarcating indigenous lands and making them “independent” to exploit the territory. “The intention is not to protect them. Is it to take what they have good there, or do we think foreigners are concerned about their future and his? They’re not concerned about it,” he said.
The president further implied that the government has purposely stopped caring for sick Indians.
“We’ve had trouble with the Army’s border platoon. The snake-bit Indians would go there and they wouldn’t let them be seen. And the Indians would die. They didn’t want the other Indians to see that we could heal somebody stung by a snake. What was the point of that? For the lands to remain intact, to be exploited in the future by other peoples”, said the president.
Committee passes opinion
In August, the Chamber’s Constitution and Justice Committee (CCJ) passed an opinion on the admissibility of a Proposal for an Amendment to the Constitution (PEC) that provides for agricultural and forestry activities on indigenous lands.
However, Chamber president Rodrigo Maia did not set up a special committee to discuss the proposal, the next step required for the processing of the text.
Source: Infomoney