Wednesday, April 13, 2022

"Brazil's indigenous communities fear mining threat over war in Ukraine"

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been pushing for more economic development in the Amazon, however his recent attempts to do so would encroach on indigenous territories. And recently, President Bolsonaro is using Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a reason why Brazil should mine in indigenous territories. This is because Brazil relies heavily on Russia for its fertilizers that Brazil's agriculture requires, and by mining in those areas he says that it would help Brazil build its own potassium reserves. However, many are against this plan since "only 11% of the reserves are inside indigenous lands" so there are other places where they could mine, and it would also not help short term because it is estimated that it would take seven to ten years until these products would be available to the Brazilian market. In 2020 this bill was voted by the lower house as being under emergency provisions so there would not have to be committee debates, and although it was expected to be voted on by the lower house this week, few people believe that it will be voted on this election year because many people are against it. And with an Australian election coming up in six months this could impact his chances against former president Lula de Silva. 

By: Madelyn Milowski

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-61093258

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