September 3, 2021

10:09

Cassandra Castro – from Cenarium

BRASILIA – The vote of the ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) that will decide on the indigenous temporal mark should begin next Wednesday, 8. The announcement was made by the president of the Court, Luiz Fux, at the end of the second day of the trial, this Thursday, 2.

The time of the second session was given over to the conclusion of the oral arguments of entities that position themselves in favor of guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples, cited in Article 231 of the Federal Constitution (CF). The section of the law recognizes the indigenous’ “social organization, customs, languages, beliefs and traditions, and the original rights over the lands they traditionally occupy, the Union being responsible for demarcating them and protecting and enforcing respect for all their assets.

Among the allied voices of the native people was the lawyer Chantelle da Silva Teixeira, representing the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (Repam/Brazil). She reiterated that it is scientifically proven that the maintenance of the current forest is directly linked to the actions of indigenous people and quoted numbers related to the issue of regularization of Indigenous Lands (TIs).

According to the lawyer, 65% of the existing indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon have some pendency. She also pointed out that Amazonas is the state with the highest backlog of requests for land regularization. According to Teixeira, the theory of Indigenato, – which recognizes the right of these people to the land where they live – will help solve several territorial conflicts.

Other Side

During this Thursday’s session, entities that defend the temporal mark also made oral arguments. Entities such as the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA), the Brazilian Association of soybean producers (Aprosoja) and the Brazilian Rural Society (SRB) showed the other side of the issue involving land rights.

These organizations talked about the right to property that is guaranteed to rural producers and the importance of agribusiness to the country. In the opinion of most of the lawyers who spoke in favor of the temporal mark, the thesis represents a legal security for both sides and can be an instrument of conciliation and dialogue to solve problems in the countryside.

The last to speak was the Attorney General of the Republic, Augusto Aras, who gave an explanation about the demarcation process of the lands and highlighted that the studies conducted by the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) were favorable to the Xokleng ethnicity’s claim.

Aras also said that the demarcation process should take place within a reasonable timeframe and that all indigenous lands in Brazil should already have been demarcated, in a subtle criticism of the State’s slowness in concluding this process. In the end, the prosecutor expressed himself contrary to the temporal mark, highlighting that the indigenous right to the lands is original and should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis.