Bolsonaro suffers setback on bill to mine indigenous lands

[Judi Lynn]

By:Reuters
Published: Mar 9, 2022, 17:23 CST•2min read

By Anthony Boadle BRASILIA (Reuters) -Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, suffered a setback on Wednesday in his effort to rush through a law that would allow mining on indigenous reservations, which he had argued was necessary because Brazil needed fertilizer supplies.

Party whips in the lower house of Congress did not agree to rush to a vote, amid concerns that voters might be angered in an election year, and Speaker Arthur Lira said a working group would be set up to study the bill and report back in 30 days.

The government’s chief whip had gathered enough signatures to fast-track the bill known as PL 191/2020, which means that it can be put to a full vote without committee hearings.

Brazil, one of the world’s top food producers and the largest importer of potash, relies on imports for 85% of fertilizer for its grain crops. A quarter of Brazil’s potash demand has usually been met by Russia, which halted exports when the Ukraine war began.

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