Brazilian politicians push for shutdown of
Indian Affairs Department
Major indigenous protests in
Brasilia, April 2017
© VOA An
inquiry established by Brazilian parliamentarians who
represent the powerful agribusiness lobby has just
published a report calling for the closure of the Indian
Affairs Department, FUNAI.
Its
findings have been met with outrage and incredulity in
Brazil and beyond. Francisco Runja, a Kaingang
spokesman said: “Killing off FUNAI is tantamount to killing us, the
indigenous peoples. FUNAI is a
crucial institution for us; our survival; our
resistance; and it’s a guarantee of the demarcation of
our traditional territories.”
The
report attacks indigenous leaders, anthropologists,
public prosecutors and NGOs, including Survival
International.
It
alleges that FUNAI has become a
“hostage to external interests” and calls for dozens of
its officials to be prosecuted for backing what it calls
“illegal demarcations” of tribal territories.
Yesterday
a group of 50 Indians was barred from attending the
session in congress discussing the inquiry.
The
inquiry took 500 days and the report is over 3,300 pages
long. It is a blatant attack on indigenous peoples and a
crude and biased attempt to destroy their hard-won
constitutional rights.
It
was headed by politicians representing Brazil’s powerful
agri-businesses who have long coveted indigenous
territories for their own financial gain.
One
member, congressman Luis Carlos Heinze, received
Survival’s Racist
of the Year award in 2014 following his deeply
offensive remarks about Brazilian Indians, homosexuals,
and black people.
Another
member, congressman Alceu Moreira, called for the
eviction of tribal people attempting to reoccupy their
ancestral lands.
The
increasingly hostile, anti-indigenous climate in many
sectors in congress is fuelling violence against
indigenous peoples. Last month, 22
Gamela Indians were injured following a brutal
attack at the hands of local landowners’ gunmen.
FUNAI has suffered severe budget cuts,
which have resulted in the grounding of several teams
responsible for protecting uncontacted tribes’
territories. This effectively leaves some of the most
vulnerable people on the planet to the mercy of
armed loggers and land grabbers.
The
organization has been greatly weakened. Many staff have
been made redundant, and political appointees now run
key departments.
In
the last five months, it has had three presidents.
Earlier this month the second president, Antonio Costa
was dismissed. In a press conference he strongly
criticized President Temer and Osmar Serraglio, the
Minister of Justice, stating that they “not only want to
finish off FUNAI, but also
public policies such as demarcation of [indigenous]
land… This is very serious.”
Yanomami
shaman and spokesman Davi Kopenawa said: “FUNAI is
broken… it is already dead. They killed it. It only
exists in name. A nice name, but it doesn’t have the
power to help us.”
Read
this online: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/11693
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