TV presenter slammed for racist comments
against Indians
Brazilian TV presenter
Fabélia Oliveira stated that Indians will “have to die
of malaria.”
© Fabélia Oliveira/ TV
Record
A
Brazilian television presenter has been strongly
criticized for stating that Indians will “have to die of
malaria.”
Fabélia
Oliveira, reporting
on TV Record, one of Brazil’s biggest channels,
said: “Keeping the forest intact and then eating from a
fridge is not indigenous culture… If they want to
preserve their culture, they can’t have access to our
technology. They can’t have fridges, showers or chemical
medicines… They’ll have to die of malaria, tetanus,
childbirth… That’s nature.”
Her
comments have been rejected by Indians
nationwide, who are campaigning for their right to
live on their land in the way they choose to be
respected. This right is guaranteed under Brazilian and
international law.
Messages
like Oliveira’s fuel the depiction of tribal people as
backward and primitive simply because their communal
ways are different. These descriptions are used by
sections of industrialized societies which subject
tribal people to genocidal violence, slavery and racism
so they can steal their lands, resources and labor in
the name of “progress” and “civilization.”
In
fact, tribal peoples are contemporary and evolving
societies just like any other. Many of the drugs used in
Western medicine originate with tribal peoples, and have
saved millions of lives.
Anti-indigenous politicians
are promoting the theft of tribal peoples'
land. Almost all of the Guarani Indians' forest
has been stolen and destroyed to make way for
large-scale plantations.
© Survival International
2015
Oliveira’s
outburst echoes the views of many of Brazil’s
anti-indigenous politicians promoting large-scale
“development” on tribal peoples’ land and attempting to
change
the law to prevent the recognition and protection of
their territories. Their proposals, if implemented,
would be disastrous
for tribes across the country and are being strongly
opposed by tribal people and their allies, including Survival
supporters around the world.
The
presenter’s statements were triggered by the unveiling
of a samba school’s indigenous theme for this year’s
carnival. Their lyrics criticise the controversial Belo
Monte mega-dam and the
‘agribusiness’ sector, and have provoked anger among
anti-indigenous landowners and politicians.
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