Organized crime has been present in the region for many years, and it has recently become a major threat to the Amazon and Indigenous rights and territories.
“We are here to say that we are the healing of the Earth, we are the ancestral voice of the Earth speaking to us. It is not possible to think about valuing human rights if you kill the Earth."
Indigenous peoples and others are struggling to protect their ancestral lands, livelihoods, and lives. In doing so, they run afoul of the men with guns who don’t hesitate to threaten and kill.
To stop catastrophic climate change, to protect Indigenous cultures, to prevent the next drought and keep the Amazon’s river dolphins and other species thriving, Indigenous rights are the key.
We question whether he will prioritize the protection of nature and the rights of Indigenous peoples as he promised during his campaign or – more likely – carry on with the extractivist agenda of prior administrations and continue to disregard Indigenous rights.
“It is important to say that Article 4, which refers to the Marco Temporal thesis, was completely vetoed. The president’s vetoes guarantee the protection of Indigenous land rights.”
"We defend our lands not just for our people but for all of humanity. Your company is harming our collective future. We have lived here in the heart of the Amazon for over 4,000 years. But now our world hangs by a thread."
“It is appalling that an emissary who traveled 4,000 miles to deliver an urgent message from her people would be treated with such dismissal and disrespect.”
We defend our lands not just for our people but for all of humanity. Your company is harming our collective future.
This decision is a strong affront to justice, memory, and the dignity of the victims and their families, who face yet another chapter of legal strife and uncertainty.
The urgency of this year's Climate Week cannot be overstated. The Amazon is at a tipping point, and the effects of climate change are not some distant future threat – they are here, and they are now.
"After many years of struggles, mobilizations, and anxieties, this outcome dictates Brazil's future of Indigenous land demarcations. We shall indeed celebrate the strength of Brazil's Indigenous peoples."
The Guardian | Nine of the court’s 11 members voted against what rights groups had dubbed the “time limit trick” – an agribusiness-backed attempt to prevent Indigenous communities claiming land they did not physically occupy in 1988.
We stand on the edge of a decision that will significantly impact Indigenous peoples’ lands, their lives, and our collective future. If approved, it's not just a win for mining magnates like Vale, Bunge, and Anglo American. It's an irreversible loss for Indigenous rights, the Amazon rainforest, and for 77 yet-to-be-recognized Indigenous...
The rights violations discovered in the operations of Canadian companies in the Amazon rainforest are deeply troubling, particularly considering Canada's efforts to present itself as a human rights leader in the world.
A groundbreaking report was unveiled at the United Nations Universal Periodic Review Process pre-session in Geneva. This in-depth investigation highlights extensive human rights and environmental breaches by Canadian companies in Latin America and the Caribbean.
In a historic vote, Ecuadorians have shown the world what true climate leadership looks like. Their vote is a step toward a fossil fuel-free future that protects biodiversity and the rights of isolated Indigenous peoples.
Despite Canada’s “climate forward” public image, it acts as a safe haven for extractive industries and companies operating in Latin America, including regions of climatic significance such as the Amazon.
While ambitious efforts to strengthen Pan-Amazonian collaboration are positive, and the summit’s final text contains a series of good intentions, Amazon Watch considers that the document falls short in advancing critical protections for the rainforest and human rights.
Al Jazeera | “The guaranteed right to our territory is at risk,” Lorena Curuaia, a leader of the Curuaia Indigenous people, told Al Jazeera. “We could lose territories that we have lived in for thousands of years.”
In the last couple of years, we have grown our work in international advocacy and legal strategies to denounce the threats the Brazilian government tries to pose to the environment and Indigenous peoples by pushing for a set of bill of laws known as the “Destruction Package.”
It is essential that we recognize this pattern and be ready to mobilize in solidarity with the Peruvian Indigenous movement in the struggles to come over the next few months.
Peru’s regional governments, as well as extractive companies trying to greenwash their image in front of the world, must know that we will not allow them to continue. The GCF Task Force must denounce this contradiction.
“The Supreme Court’s definitive ruling denying the Marco Temporal thesis is the only means to counter the moves of Brazil’s agribusiness-oriented Congress and guarantee these proposed legislation's unconstitutionality.”
The railway is regarded as one of the most anti-environmental projects being considered by Lula de Silva's government and has even been dubbed the "new Belo Monte."
"Our focus must not be limited to the direct perpetrators of crimes, but also extend to those endorsing predatory activities in the Javari Valley."
"The lawmakers who voted today in favor of this project will go down in history as responsible for approving a bill that explicitly attacks the lives of Indigenous peoples in Brazil."
The substitute for Provisional Measure 1154, approved in the Mixed Committee, dismantles the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) and the agencies linked to it and weakens the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI). The text needs to be amended by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
"Brazil's presidency may have changed, but a deeply-rooted anti-environmental and anti-Indigenous sentiment persists in Congress."
Amazon Allies is our incredible community of monthly sustainers. A monthly gift to Amazon Watch is a powerful way to be part of the Indigenous-led movement for the Amazon!
