Protecting The Environment Means Protecting Indigenous Peoples, Says Sonia Guajajara
Guajajara promises to keep fighting against the marco temporal' thesis at the Brazils Supreme Court, and to take the indigenous lands rights agenda to COP26
7.oct.2021 13h12
Cristiane Fontes
Marcelo Leite
SÃO PAULO y OXFORD
Sonia Guajajara, 47, leader from the Arariboia Indigenous Land, in Maranhão, has a degree both in Languages and in Nursing, with specialisation in special-needs education. She was one of the leaders involved in the People's Summit at the Rio+20 Conference, as well as the first indigenous person to run for vice-president of Brazil, in 2018. Sonia sits in the Executive Coordination of both APIB (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil) and ANMIGA (National Articulation of Ancestral Warriors Women).
In this interview with Folha, Sonia Guajajara says that the indigenous people are not going to give up their lands and that they will return to Brasília to pressure Brazil ‘s Supreme Court (STF) on indigenous lands ruling. Apib will also take the issue of demarcation of indigenous territories to COP-26, in Glasgow, in order to gain more support for their cause.
The marco temporal (time framework) thesis to be ruled by the Supreme Court goes beyond the constitutional text and posits that indigenous peoples are only entitled to the lands they physically occupied at the time of the 1988 Federal Constitution— which would ignore the history of expulsions and violence against different peoples. Ruralistas (big landowners, farmers and cattle ranchers) claim that the rule would bring legal uncertainty.
Sonia Guajajara also talks about the possibility of running for elections in 2022, the proximity of the indigenous movement to left-wing parties and about domestic violence. “It is a reality among various peoples, in many territories, and t is growing among the Guarani Kaiowá."
More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/es/cienciaysalud/2021/10/protecting-the-environment-means-protecting-indigenous-peoples-says-sonia-guajajara.shtml?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsen
