During his speech at the World Economic Forum on Tuesday, Brazil's right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro was adamant that throughout his tenure, the country would be open to global investors. In a weak attempt at creating a semblance of balance between economic growth and environmental protection, Bolsonaro stated, 'It is now our mission to make progress in harmonising environmental preservation and biodiversity on the one hand, while bearing in mind that these are interdependent, inseparable pillars of our society.'
Absent from the equation were the indigenous people of Brazil, who represent a major obstacle for the planned exploitation of territory and natural resources. In 2006, a report by Brazilian and American scientists established that indigenous territory is 'the most important barrier to Amazonian deforestation'.
However, Bolsonaro has taken immediate steps to curtail the indigenous people's legal recourses to save their territories. His first action as president was to remove the responsibility for indigenous land demarcation from the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and grant such powers to the Ministry of Agriculture, which has vested interests in ventures pertaining to agribusiness.
Following his WEF speech, Brazil's top prosecutor issued a warning for Bolsonaro to 'respect the land rights of 900,000 indigenous citizens'.
Bolsonaro is by no means the only Latin American president to hold the indigenous populations in contempt. In Chile, former dictator Augusto Pinochet enacted legislation specifically denying the existence of the Mapuche, while having no qualms about experimenting with chemical weapons upon kidnapped individuals from the community. Subsequent left-wing and right-wing Chilean governments continued to wage war on the Mapuche through the dictatorship-era's anti-terror laws. Camilo Catrillanca, who was at the helm of indigenous resistance in his community, is one of the Chilean state's most recent victims.
Argentina's Mapuche community have also been resisting the collusion between government and multinational companies. United Colours of Benetton operates from Patagonia in Argentina, where it owns 2.2 million acres of indigenous land. In 2017, Argentinian activist Santiago Maldonado was disappeared by the police while participating in a protest with the Mapuche over Benetton's presence and land grab. His body was subsequently discovered in a river and the state ruled out foul play, but Maldonado's family are pursuing charges of 'forced disappearance' against Mauricio Macri's government.
For such governments, including Bolsonaro, the indigenous population are the impediment to neoliberal and exploitative policies. To achieve such a system, there will be a gradual, and most probably hurried, introduction of legislation that paves