User talk:EnvironmentalJusticeBrazil

Indigenous Displacement in Brazil on Behalf of Jair Bolsonaro
In 2019, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stated in a press conference, “This is my decision, unless I'm obliged to, there will be no more indigenous reserves in brazil.” (Castillo, 2021) Bolsonaros's entire presidential campaign was filled with colonial remarks such as this. But it is not only Bolsonaro who held these stances regarding Brazilian Indigenous communities, preceding presidents such as Michel Temer and Dilma Rousseff have also attempted to implement indigenous displacement to allow for the expansion of farming in the Amazon. (Manuela Carneiro.et al, 2017) Agribusiness has held political leverage over the Brazilian government for decades through lobbying for the weakening of Indigenous Protected Lands policies. Their justification of this lies in the idea that these policies present barriers to the economic, and political progress of Brazil. The attempts to dissolve accountability in the Indigenous Protected Lands Policies have proven successful as treaty-protected land has been stolen from Kayapo territory, Xikrin Do Rio Catete, Igarape Lage, Rio Branco, Rio Mequens, Kaigang, Katxuyana, and many more. Temer and Rousseff simply set the stage for Bolsonaro's efforts to attack indigenous solidarity. In June 2019, the destruction of the Amazon increased 88%. (Ellis, 2019) Given that this drastic increase occurred a matter of months after his inauguration, it has become increasingly clear that Bolsonaro has only exacerbated the unjust treatment the indigenous have been subjugated to for decades. Bolsonaros continuous funding cuts of FUNAI, the National Indian Foundation in Brazil, led to a significant decrease in offices within the Amazon that actively defend the safety of the indigenous populations thus causing a major increase in the cases of land invasions. (Spezia, 2020) Additionally, he has proposed the removal of FUNAIs ability to demarcate land entirely, while appointing a former police officer associated with the farming industry, Marcelo Xavier Da Silva as FUNAI president. Along with that, he has assigned Ricardo Lopez Dias, an evangelical Christian missionary who is an active proponent of indigenous conversion, as the head of the program. (Rocha, 2020) Bolsonaro has also lied repeatedly to the press and the indigenous themselves, regarding the reasonings for the ongoing forest fires. Bolsonaro who actively rejects notions of climate change justifies these fires as being in the effect of rising global temperatures when in all reality these fires are intentionally set to clear forests to provide acreage of farmland. (McAuliffe, 2019) Every action of Bolsonaro’ regarding the Amazon has been motivated by the goal of indigenous exploitations and financial gain. Bolsonaro has continually dehumanized the Amazonian indigenous communities through both his words and actions. In 2020, Bolsonaro stated that “Indians are undoubtedly changing … They are increasingly becoming human beings just like us.” ( Phillips, 2020 ) The ways in which these tribes were changing were a result of forced adaptation to displacement, political tension, and the complete disregard for human life on behalf of Bolsonaro and his administration. (Athayde, 2010)