Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva affirmed yesterday, Friday, that he will demarcate all indigenous lands in the country before the end of his term in 2026.
“I do not want to leave any indigenous land that has not been demarcated during my four-year term.”
“This is a commitment that I have and that I assumed with you before the campaign,” said the president before representatives of native communities during the Free Land Camp closing ceremony in Brasilia.
Lula da Silva signed the demarcation of six indigenous territories this Friday, the first to be made official after five years without the procedure.
He maintained that the idea that indigenous lands occupy too much territory is erroneous since the original peoples’ habits, customs, and traditions must be “respected”.
“Indigenous peoples do not owe any favor to any other people. When they say that you occupy 14 percent of the national territory, giving the idea that it is a lot of lands, we have to say that before the Portuguese arrived, you occupied 100 percent,” he said.
Lula da Silva recalled that protecting indigenous lands is essential for preserving the environment.
“If we want to reach 2030 with zero deforestation in the Amazon, we will need you as guardians of the forest,” he said.
For his part, the indigenous leader, Raoni Metuktire, demanded at the ceremony that the president increase the financial resources of organizations such as the National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai).
“I participated in the inauguration of President Lula, and he told me that he would put indigenous people in these organizations, but now I want to ask him to strengthen them with financial resources,” he said.
The lands of native peoples that were demarcated this Friday are Arara do Rio Amonia, in the State of Acre (northwest); Kariri-Xocó, in Alagoas (northeast); Rio dos Índios, in Rio Grande do Sul (south); Tremembé da Barra do Mundaú, in Ceará (northeast); Uneiuxi, in Amazonas (north) and Avá-Canoeiro, in Goiás (center-west).
According to the Brazilian Constitution, land demarcation is the exclusive competence of the Executive. It considers the rights of the native peoples due to their occupation before the formation of the State.