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The failure of indigenous peoples in court may set a precedent for President Bolsonaro to withdraw indigenous rights.
Brazil’s Supreme Court heard arguments for and against deadlines for indigenous people’s claims of land that are critical to their survival, while the government advocated providing legal certainty for farmers in agricultural powerhouses.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday weighed whether the state government had made an overly narrow interpretation of indigenous rights by recognizing only tribal lands occupied by indigenous communities when the Brazilian Constitution was ratified in 1988.
It is expected that this case will be delayed for several days and set a precedent, which will affect hundreds of local land claims.
The aborigines danced and shouted outside the courtroom, anxiously watching the proceedings on the outdoor screen.
Luiz Eloy Amado, an attorney for APIB, the largest indigenous umbrella organization, and of the Terenas, said the rule was unconstitutional because the 1988 Constitution did not have a time frame to guarantee the rights of ancestral land.
“The land issue is of vital importance to the indigenous people of Brazil,” Amado told the court.
He added that if the court does not reject the 1988 deadline, about 800 claims (a quarter of which are in the final stage of recognition) will be put on hold.
Protected indigenous lands provide a fortress against deforestation in the Amazon. The failure of indigenous peoples in the courts will set a precedent for the regression of indigenous rights sought by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro with the support of strong agricultural interests.
Government Attorney General Bruno Bianco believes that the time frame provides legal guarantees for farmers, many of whom have lived on the land where the indigenous people live for decades, who have been affected by the arrival of European settlers. Be expelled.
Bianco said that this issue is best decided by Congress, and one of the bills that set 1988 as a legal deadline passed a committee of the House of Commons. He said the court should postpone the decision until after the legislator passed the bill, and Brazil’s powerful farm lobby supports this strategy.
The court will adjourn until Thursday, when 18 speakers will appear in court to discuss the issue.
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