[All links lead to Portuguese language pages, except when otherwise noted.]
Hundreds of indigenous people stormed Brazil's lower-house Chamber of Deputies to protest a bill that would hand over authority on territorial claims to the National Congress, a change that some fear would give the political upperhand to the country's ranchers who often spar with the indigenous over land.
Gathered in the capital Brasília for the country's Indigenous April – an annual event organized to celebrate the Day of the Indigenous Brazilian on April 19 – representatives of nearly 76 different ethnicities had arrived at the Chamber of Deputies in the morning of April 16, 2013 to discuss the controversial proposal with legislators. Tired of waiting by the end of the day, between 300 and 700 native Brazilians confronted security guards and burst into the session.
The group demanded the end of a proposed constitutional amendment that would pass the power of making final decisions about indigenous land demarcation from the executive branch to the legislative branch. The interruption was broadcast live by TV Câmara, the Chamber of Deputies’ channel, and was later widely shared on YouTube:
This was not the first time the proposal triggered protests; demonstrations followed after Proposed Amendment number 215/00 was deemed admissible by the Chamber of Deputies constitution commission in March 2012.
Currently, indigenous land demarcation in Brazil is done through studies conducted by the government agency National Indigenous Foundation (FUNAI) and established by a presidential decree. If approved, amendment 215, which was proposed by congressman Almir Sá from Roraima state, would do away with FUNAI's autonomy to oversee research on territorial claims and would make it more difficult for land occupied by small farmers be designated as indigenous.
In a video posted by journalist Marcel Frota on YouTube, congressman Ivan Valente, from the Party for Socialism and Liberty (PSOL), defined the indigenous protest as a way of guaranteeing “constitutional rights”:
Passando pelo Congresso, onde a bancada ruralista tem maioria parlamentar, nunca mais vai passar por aqui (na Câmara) uma demarcação de terras indígenas ou a criação de alguma unidade de conservação. Então, esse ato de resistência dos indígenas é uma advertência à Câmara dos Deputados e ao Congresso Nacional.
If it [the proposed amendment] is passed by Congress, where the rural lobby [en] have a majority, the demarcation of indigenous land and the creation of conservation units will never again be approved [by the Chamber of Deputies]. Therefore, this act of resistance by indigenous people is a warning to the Chamber of Deputies and to the National Congress.
The ruralista bloc, as those who support the rural lobby are known, to which Valente refers is the Agribusiness Parliamentary Front, formed by congressmen and senators who have connections with agribusiness. In a meeting held in February, the Front representatives had already defined the discussion about the indigenous land demarcation as one of their priorities.
While the indigenous group occupied the Chamber of Deputies, indigenous representatives held a meeting with the president of the Brazilian Supreme Court, Joaquim Barbosa, to discuss the case of the Raposa Serra do Sol [en] reserve. Though FUNAI identified the area as an Indigenous homeland [en] back in 1993, the land hasn't yet been completely handed over because of a series of disputes and deadly conflict between rice farmers and indigenous people. The Supreme Court as a result toughened the demarcation conditions there in 2009.
Later on, the Office of the Solicitor-General proposed an ordinance that would expend the special conditions to all areas of Brazil, but it has not been implemented. On the day that the indigenous groups occupied the Congress, the Front presented a petition calling for it to be put into effect as soon as possible.
The session was closed after Progressive Party congressman Simão Sessim, who was leading the debate, said there were no conditions to carry on. The 