Brazil Appoints FUNAI Director Who Considers Demarcation of Indigenous Land ‘Absurd’

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In 2014, Rocha published a study called “Amazon – The lost battles of an invisible war” in which he said that attributing the demarcation of indigenous lands to FUNAI was “clearly absurd”.

FUNAI is the Brazilian governmental protection agency for Indian interests and their culture. It is by far the most important tool for the natives in Brazil to defend themselves against land grabbing and the like.

The Brazilian Constitution of 1988 recognized Indians’ rights to practice their customs without pressure to assimilate or integrate into mainstream Brazilian society. Article 231 also defines Indians’ rights to their lands and outlines FUNAI’s responsibility to demarcate those lands

The new director of FUNAI however, seems to have a slightly different view of the raison d’être of the agency, which he now heads.

“The National Indian Foundation, as an indirect administration body, has its own legal status and, therefore, has no authority over any federal government body, only a link with the Ministry of Justice. In this way, no federal authority may review the acts of its leaders, since there is no hierarchical subordination. If this is the case, it is clearly absurd that this autonomous body has been assigned the task of demarcating indigenous lands,” Rocha wrote in the 2014 study.

Since President Jair Bolsonaro took office in January, there have been changes in the demarcation of indigenous lands. First of all, Bolsonaro decided that demarcation would be the task of the Ministry of Agriculture, no longer FUNAI.

However, after analyzing Bolsonaro’s measure, Congress returned the assignment to the Indian Foundation. Bolsonaro then issued a new provisional measure transferring the assignment back to the ministry, but the Federal Supreme Court rejected the change, returning the demarcation to FUNAI.

One can, therefore, interpret the appointment of Rocha in such a way that Jair Bolsonaro has not given up weakening the foundations of FUNAI in the long term and ultimately making it powerless.

Demarcation of indigenous lands

When addressing the Amazon in the 2014 study, Rocha criticized the demarcation of indigenous lands, stating that those who demarcated and continue to demarcate the indigenous lands “are not the Brazilian government or FUNAI,” but rather the NGOs.

According to FUNAI’s new director, the way in which demarcations are performed and how the Amazonian territory is managed have created “the necessary conditions to warrant a military intervention before international public opinion”.

Carlos Rocha’s arguments are similar to Bolsonaro’s statements, who frequently criticizes the demarcation of indigenous lands and NGOs.

As the foundation’s director of Administration and Management, Carlos Rocha will be in charge of “coordinating, controlling and financially implementing the resources of indigenous income”.

He will additionally “coordinate, guide, monitor and carry out activities related to the implementation of the human resources policy, including personnel administration, training, and development.

Source: G1