Indigenous Brazilians protest at Congress building

People from about 105 indigenous ethnic groups occupied the dome and bowl on top of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies at the Congress building on Wednesday morning (Dec. 16).  Parliament police monitored the occupation, but the protesters are not allowed to enter the building 

The protesters demand a meeting with the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Eduardo Cunha, and the President of the Senate, Renan Calheiros, to discuss their agenda. “We're protesting against PEC 215 and all policies that violate the rights of indigenous people. There's a political crisis going on and every time politicians face this kind of crisis things get worse for us. Corruption is their problem. They want to take it out on us by removing our rights and refusing to demarcate our land, but this crisis did not originate in our villages,” denounced Chief Babau Tupinambá from the Tupinambá people in Bahia.

The constitutional amendment bill (PEC) 215, which hands over indigenous land demarcation authority from the Executive branch to the Legislature, was approved by a Special Committee on the Demarcation of Indigenous Land of the Chamber of Deputies in October. The measure, seen by traditional Brazilian people and activists as a threat to indigenous rights, is pending a floor vote in the Chamber of Deputies.

The indigenous protesters will be in Brasília until Thursday (Dec. 17) for the First National Conference on Indigenous Policy.

Translated by Mayra Borges