Note of Condemnation from the APIB | Amazon Watch
Amazon Watch

Note of Condemnation from the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB)

August 28, 2019 | Public Statement


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While the Amazon is burning in flames, the anti-indigenous President Jair Bolsonaro continues spewing his ignorance and racism against ingidenous tribes in Brazil. Using the argument that we are protected by foreigners, he continues preaching his genocidal, ethnocidal, anti-ecological and anti-indigenous politics, this time, in the middle of a meeting between governors in which they were suppose to come together to find solutions for the Amazon, and not to spread backwards, false and perverse ideas, which unfortunately, is the common practice.

One of the results of these anti-environmental policies is surely the colossal increase of fires in Brazil with an 82% increase in comparison to the same period last year at this time, the largest increase and also the highest number of registered fires in seven years in the country, according to the Programa Queimadas of the Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE).

Bolsonaro speaks about colonialism in the Amazon in a dishonest way. He criminally encourages illegal invasions of our lands by loggers, minners, land grabbers, while he cuts governmental agencies like IBAMA and ICMBio, who are responsible for providing funds and executing environmental policies. Additionally, he promotes the dismantling of governmental agencies and historical funds like FUNAI and the Fundo Amazônia, that could be utilized in this moment to mitigate the results of these crimes.

Meanwhile, he treats our international politics in an amateur way, both obscenely and irresponsibly, bringing shame to the mothers, fathers, grandparents, women and workers of this country, with his neverending perversity.

At the same time, in the Chamber of Deputies, the Commission of the Constitution and Justice is considering the proposal of a constitutional amendment, the PEC 187, that allows for agriculture and forestry programs to be carried out on indigenous territories. This is a major setback that only serves the endless greediness of Brazilian agribusiness with its powerful lobbying, which destroys rights and lives and puts the future of humanity at risk. In addition to these harmful measures, policies in many other areas are being dismantled, including health, education, social assistance, safety and others, that play with our fate, and is yet another attempt to expel us from our lands and to kill our culture. We will continue to fight tirelessly in the Special Commission that was created to investigate this issue.

We need immense national and international solidarity to face this dark time. We are asking for help and support from national and international institutions to ensure that laws, justice and international treaties that Brazil has signed are respected.

All of these laws and rights gained were the fruits of the struggle of the indigenous movement in Brazil and around the world, and it cost the blood and lives of our ancestors and leaders who fought so much for our people, keeping in mind the long periods of genocides that we have been subjected to.

We will not put our heads down under these circumstances and we will continue resisting with our bodies and our lives for our land, for our cultures and for the future of the planet. We do not have a Planet B. Our fight is urgent and collective. We strengthen our commitment and we invite all the lucid women and men to continue supporting us in the trenches that we are being thrown into. On the borders, in our territories, in the north and the south of the country. It was never easy, but we are still here, and we are not messing around. We have the wisdom of our ancestors, we know how to resist and to come together. And we will continue doing so, whether Bolsonaro likes it or not.

APIB – Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil

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