Indians, blacks push for more say in Brazil's agenda
BRASILIA (Reuters) - Native Indians and communities of slave descendants in Brazil are pushing for a greater say in shaping laws and public works projects, creating a potential minefield for business and government in Latin America's largest economy.
After years of being ignored, the groups' calls for greater power through plebiscites or other means are winning support within the government, Congress and the judiciary.
Rights activists say many hurdles remain but hope that an international ruling this and a Supreme Court decision on a huge Indian reservation, both due this month, will help their cause.
"Nobody knows how but it's clear we need to consult the Indians," said Sen. Marina Silva, a former environment minister who resigned this year partly due to difficulty she had in slowing plans for big infrastructure projects.
Some of the country's largest projects, from hydroelectric plants to roads, are planned for Indian reserves that make up around 12 percent of Brazil's vast territory.
In 2004, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed into law the International Labor Organization's Convention 169, which recognizes basic rights for native Indians and other tribal peoples, including the right to be consulted on key issues affecting their lives.
But the government never implemented the legislation.
"Nobody asks us when farmers or entrepreneurs chop down our trees," said Pirakuman Yawalapiti, an Indian leader from the Xingu reservation in Mato Grosso state, where the government wants to build a hydroelectric plant.
Unlike other countries in the region, Brazil has never formally consulted its Indians on issues affecting them.
The Indian population dwindled from millions when Europeans began settling Brazil in 1500 to only a few hundred thousand, as many were massacred or died from disease. It has recovered in the last two decades to nearly 1 million.
Remote communities of descendants from runaway slaves, known as Quilombolas, also demand equal consultation rights.
Marcio Meira, head of the government agency for Indian affairs, Funai, said he favored binding plebiscites.
"We should respect a 'no,'" Meira said, when asked whether Indians should have the power to veto the construction of a hydroelectric plant or road.
RIGHTS VS ECONOMIC PROGRESS?
Activists hope that a ruling this month in favor of such consultations in Brazil by the ILO, of which Brazil is one of only five permanent members, will prompt government action. Continued...
