Brazil's Bolsonaro unveils bill to allow commercial mining on indigenous land

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Brazil's Bolsonaro unveils bill to allow commercial mining on indigenous land

Reuters in Brasília
Thu 6 Feb 2020 15.32 GMT
Last modified on Thu 6 Feb 2020 15.36 GMT

Brazil’s far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, unveiled a controversial bill on Wednesday that would allow commercial mining on protected indigenous lands, delivering on a campaign promise that has shocked tribal leaders and environmentalists.

The bill to regulate mining including oil and gas projects, as well as hydroelectric dams, on indigenous reservations for the first time, will be sent to congress this week. Brazil’s constitution currently does not rule out mining on reservations, but does not allow it because it has not been regulated.

“This is a big step forward, but it will face pressure from environmentalists,” Bolsonaro said in a speech.

Bolsonaro has long alleged that Brazil’s indigenous people occupy too much land – 13% of the country – and hinder economic development of untold mineral resources, from gold and diamonds to niobium and rare earths.

But leaders of most of Brazil’s 300 tribes oppose mining on their reservations and say that allowing commercial mining would undermine their communities and wipe out their cultures, which are already threatened by increasing invasions by illegal loggers and wildcat miners.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/06/brazil-bolsonaro-commercial-mining-indigenous-land-bill

[pansypoo53219]

1. US needs to remove brazil from this slime.