Justice for Indians and Farmers

by Senator Acir Gurgacz

The demarcation and increase of the size of native reservations has by consequence caused substantial impacts of farming across all of Brazil. This situation, which, in some cases, represents the legitimate fight of indigenous people for their traditional lands, has put groups representing farmers on alert.

They contest the criteria used to provide, for example, an area of 4.2 million acres to nearly 20,000 native persons, which is what happened upon the demarcation of the Raposa Serra do Sol Indian Reservation, in Roraima. And they also disagree with the proposal to increase the Karitiana tribe’s reservation from its current 222,000 acres, to 445,000 acres, reaching parts of the states of Rondônia, Acre and Amazonas…

Because of a lack of transparency in terms of criteria and methodologies used by Funai (Brazil’s native people’s affairs agency—ed.)  for the demarcation and expansion of native reservations, and to defend the areas on which they already have property rights, farmers and ranchers from several Brazilian states have engaged in actions that aim to change steps of the identification and demarcation processes for indigenous people’s lands.

Some of these actions have resulted in bills to amend the Constitution, and bills moving through the federal Congress. One of them is PEC 38/1999, sponsored by Senator Mozarildo Cavalcanti, which conditions the demarcation of indigenous lands on the approval of the Senate.

There is also PEC 215/2000, sponsored by Congressman Almir Sá, which gives the federal Congress, through votes in the House and the Senate, the power to authorize the demarcation of new native lands.

Among the legislative bills, one of the more recent, PLS no. 417, introduced in 2011, and sponsored by Senator Paulo Bauer—who is also the bill’s rapporteur—which establishes that demarcation of indigenous lands will only be done after the execution of technical studies that attest to the true indigenous character of the community in question. This effort should be complemented by ethno-historic, sociological, legal, cartographic and environmental studies, as well as by a specialized land study that attests to the true indigenous nature of the community in question and the traditional lifestyle nature of the group in question, as of October 5, 1988.

I understand that these studies may continue to be coordinated by Funai, but they should have multi-sector input, involving all segments of society. The issue is complex, and demands that analysis be done from diverse perspectives, involving society as a whole.

Brazil has nearly 650 native reservations on a total area of 272 million acres, which represents 13 percent of Brazil’s national territory, on which 600,000 native persons live. Beyond that, there is a large number of native lands in the demarcation or enlargement process.

That’s good to a point. It’s a right of the indigenous communities to fight for enlargement of their reservations, despite the Constitution and Supreme Court jurisprudence having limited the possibilities to do so.

The problem is that a good part of those areas are also occupied by farmers, which will certainly result in conflict and loss of production. We must better understand the problem and seek avenues that point toward solutions meet the needs of promoting social justice for native peoples and farmers.

I understand that it is only through dialog, with respect the traditional peoples, but also with respect to property rights acquired by farmers throughout the process of colonization of the country, that we can move forward on this issue. The current impasse is good for few and harmful to the Brazilian nation.

I think that conflict can be avoided through the good sense of the agencies responsible for the question of landholding, and by those charged with native people’s issues in Brazil. The solution won’t be simply expanding native people’s reservations—people who truly live in adverse conditions.

The thing that is lacking for them is help with health, education, work and infrastructure, and policies of inclusion so they can develop their abilities and become citizens.

Brazilian federal senator Acir Gurgacz (PDT-Rondônia) is his party’s leader in the Senate, where he chairs the Agriculture Committee.