Leaders linked to the Free Land Camp 2024 (Acampamento Terra Livre, also known as ATL) kicked off the 20th edition of the event on Monday (22) amid demands made to the federal government. The largest Indigenous gathering and political articulation in Brazil, ATL was prepared to receive an audience of 6,000 to 8,000 participants this year and became the stage for a new chapter of pressure on the Lula administration to speed up the process of land recognition and demarcation.
Among the event's tasks, its organizers are trying to schedule a meeting with the Brazilian president this week to talk about ATL’s demands. The idea is for a delegation of Indigenous people to be received by the president at the Planalto Palace, instead of promoting a meeting with Lula at the encampment, as happened in 2022 and 2023.
Brasil de Fato has learned that the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib) has changed its strategy this year because it believes it would be politically more advantageous to pressure the president at the Palace and, preferably, in the presence of government ministers who will listen to the Indigenous’ demands at a negotiating table. Behind the backstage, the assessment is that a new invitation for President Lula to attend the meeting of delegations would require a major security operation that would end up making part of the event's activities unfeasible, besides having less potential to bring political progress.
Lula's interlocutors are trying to arrange a meeting for Thursday (24), but there has been no confirmation yet. Other parallel meetings are also being articulated, mainly with names from the Esplanade of Ministries. On Monday (22), a delegation of ATL leaders was welcomed at the Ministries of the Environment and Social Development. Other ministries are expected to meet them throughout the week, but until these talks take place, the leaders and delegations continue to mobilize in the encampment.
Indigenous woman Rosineide Saripun Kaxuyana, from the Wayamu territory in northern Pará state, erected a banner at the entrance of the ATL area to draw attention to the community’s case, which sent almost 50 representatives to Brasília, Brazil’s capital city, this week to join the chorus of pro-demarcation protests. “We've been fighting for years, but so far, our territory hasn't been demarcated. I hope it happens faster because we need our territory to be demarcated. After all, invaders are there, eyeing up our territory. This is a danger to us, and that’s sad.”
One of the most emblematic cases featured in the political speeches at the ATL is that of the Potiguara Indigenous Land of Monte-Mor, in Paraíba state. It was one of the four scheduled to be ratified by President Lula last Thursday (18) but was postponed because, according to the president, state governors of these areas asked for more time for negotiation.
The stance upset residents. According to cacica Cal Potiguara, almost 9,000 people from five native communities on the Indigenous land are waiting “with great expectation” for the president's signature so that the land can finally be officially recognized as belonging to the communities. The area was among the 14 that the government had promised to demarcate in its first year in office. However, only eight were actually made official last year.
“It was frustrating for us, once again, to be taken off the agenda. But we're going to demand that it doesn't fall by the wayside and we wait another year. I think the government still lacks the willpower to complete the demarcation of territories because the big problem with all governments is that they start demarcation processes and don't finish them. I think the government still leaves a lot to be desired. People may think that we are very well assisted because of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and other institutions where we are now, but to what extent are we really gaining from this?” she asks.
The list of 14 areas promised includes territories that no longer have any legal impediment to being ratified as Indigenous, nor are they compromised by the advancement of the so-called timeframe thesis, which ended up being approved by the National Congress last year and created obstacles to the segment's agenda. Looking at the current relationship with the Lula government, Dinaman Tuxá, from the executive coordination of Apib, says the organization is faced with multiple feelings.
“It's plenty of feelings. At times it brings happiness, at others it brings frustration and sometimes it brings disappointment. It's a lot of feelings.” The leader says there is a context of “revolt” at the fact that “more than 470 days” have passed without the government meeting the target for the 14 areas promised to be demarcated for 2023. “That's what's causing dissatisfaction because these are areas that were pointed out during the transitional government by FUNAI [the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples] as places that were ready to have their documentation signed. Therefore, the issue is just one of political difficulty. There is no legal problem,” he adds.
Obstacles
Tuxá points out that there are a number of factors that contribute to hindering the process of demarcating over 200 areas in the country. In addition to the strength of the agribusiness caucus, a long-time opponent of the Indigenous movement and the intense pressure from governors in the dispute over some local areas, the diverse composition of the broad front that supports the federal government has proved to be a major obstacle to the political agenda.
“The issue of governability is a problem. That’s a government of coalition parties. We know that the rights of Indigenous peoples clash with the interests of many states and governors, given that these are lands that are going to be taken out of the hands of the market because they will be handed over to those who are entitled to them, but they are lands of original rights,” he argues. The leader believes that, in addition to the final approval, other simpler procedures are also being taken very slowly.
“Regardless of the final signature, there are administrative acts that can be speeded up in the administrative power - Funai, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Justice. There is also a slowdown in other policies that we thought would be faster, especially territorial protection, which will bring security to Indigenous peoples. In some cases, we have seen some progress, but it still falls short of what we expected.”
Tuxá also says Indigenous peoples recognize the existence of structural difficulties in implementing policies for the native population. “Brazil has gone through a dismantling process, and we put this on the [negotiating] table. We know that the dismantling brought in by the Bolsonaro government requires time [to rebuild the country], but this time cannot be eternal either. It's a four-year government, so we want whatever progress can be made in those four years to happen. We're going to demand that he advances not only land demarcations but also strengthens the Minister of Indigenous peoples, Funai, Sesai [the Indigenous Health Secretariat] and all the policies aimed at our peoples.”
Positive points
Apib believes that this first chapter of Lula’s third presidential term – a year and four months – also saw progress. The opening up of dialog is seen as the main one. “The treatment we receive today is different. The Lula government sees us as subjects of rights, while Bolsonaro didn't even see Indigenous people as people. So, good or bad, we know that the current government has a different approach to our issues. But since it is a coalition government, it ends up giving in in some situations that directly affect our lives,” says Tuxá.
According to him, the organization believes there has also been an improvement in the management of the humanitarian crisis affecting the Yanomami population in Roraima state since the Bolsonaro administration. “There was a certain difficulty for the government itself, which initially didn't understand each other internally, especially with the Armed Forces. I believe they are now on the right track, but we will continue to monitor and make demands. For what is working, we will continue to support it. For what isn't, we'll continue to make demands.”
Edited by: Vivian Virissimo
