In Brazil, despite Lula’s promises, environmental threats are mounting

A dark day for environmental protection in Brazil: this Tuesday, May 30, will undoubtedly be remembered after the House of Representatives adopted a text threatening nature and indigenous peoples. More painful was the row, not during the far-right mandate of Jair Bolsonaro, but under the left-wing president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a self-proclaimed climate defender.

Introduced earlier in the evening, the bill is known as PL 490 Marco Temporal, One The “time mark” was adopted by a very large majority (283 votes against 155), but in an electric situation.

Throughout the day, environmentalists would have done everything in their power to block the adoption of the text. In the early hours of the morning, a hundred indigenous Guarani people blocked a highway near Sao Paulo before being brutally dispersed by police with tear gas and rubber bullets, while several rallies took place in other parts of the country. In the session, the elected leftists raised their voices and showed copies of the constitution to convince their colleagues. in vain

Driven by agribusiness, PL490 is seen by many as an unprecedented attack on indigenous peoples since the return to democracy. At the time the constitution was adopted in 1988, it stipulated that consolidation of new reserves would only be possible in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples. . The text liberates the economic exploitation of native lands and the possibility of contact with isolated populations under very vague pretexts.“General Use”.

Lula’s Disastrous Sequence

The Marco Temporarily It’s not the only controversial text adopted by Congress in recent days. Last week, parliamentarians approved an administrative regulation in committee, carving out the Ministry of Environment from its main prerogatives, such as rural cadastre or water management. Without the power to demarcate new indigenous lands, the new Ministry of Indigenous Peoples is being reduced to an empty nest.

The move still needs to be approved by a plenary session of parliament, but the row is already devastating for Lula, who has made environmental advocacy his hobby. This, logically, has drawn the ire of popular environment minister Marina Silva. The latter warned “The Great Recession” And “Severe Economic Damage” Associated with the decline of Brazil’s image on the international stage.

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