Facebook Instagram Twitter YouTube

Thousands of Indigenous Activists are Resisting Land Grabs and Ecocide in Brazil

Brazil’s Indigenous peoples are resisting capitalist attacks on their land enabled by the Bolsonaro government. As Brazil’s Supreme Court stands poised to advance these attacks, the international working class must show solidarity with the “Struggle for Life.”

Sam Carliner

September 1, 2021
Facebook Twitter Share
Photo: Antonio Molina/AP

Thousands of activists from 176 Indigenous groups have mobilized and camped out in Brazil’s capital to resist a potential Federal Court ruling that threatens their land. The case in question will determine if Brazil’s government can reject  Indigenous land claims not already covered by Brazil’s 1988 constitution. However, because colonialism in Brazil had forced Indigenous peoples off their land for centuries before the constitution, the meagre protections of 1988 left out plenty of land with which Indigenous groups have a historic connection. The ruling — which is expected to come this week — may pave the way for capitalist exploitation of that land not already protected.

The protests in Brasília seek to highlight to the Brazilian people the harms their government have historically directed toward Indigenous communities. This violence was especially prominent during the years of Brazil’s military dictatorship, from 1964 to 1985. Now, far-right president Jair Bolsonaro speaks admiringly about the years of dictatorship, and is predictably escalating violence towards Indigenous communities. His government encourages attacks on Indigenous land by enabling illegal mining and murders of Indigenous people. In Bolsonaro’s first year in office, from 2018 to 2019, murders of native people doubled

Illegal logging has also thrived under Bolsonaro. Logging, both legal and illegal, poses an immediate threat to the lives of Brazil’s Indigenous communities, while also fueling the climate crisis. Last year, deforestation in the Amazon hit a 12-year high, with massive clearing and burning of forestlands. As a result, scientists warned this year that the Amazon rainforest, one of the most important carbon sinks in the world, is now emitting more carbon than it is able to absorb.

Along with the upcoming Supreme Court case, which seeks to erase the legitimate claims of Indigenous groups to their traditional lands, the government is preparing additional legislation which could strip Indigenous land rights if the court does not succeed in legalizing Brazilian capital’s anti-Indigenous agenda.

To fight these capitalist attacks, Indigenous groups throughout Brazil have formed the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB). APIB’s “Struggle For Life” calls on the international community to keep its eyes on their fight in Brazil and to support the mobilizations. The Stop Line 3 protests in Minnesota have already demonstrated that Biden and U.S. capital are not interested in protecting Native land in the United States, let alone internationally. The international working class, climate activists, youth, and oppressed communities in the United States must join together to support APIB’s resistance in Brazil as a struggle against injustice and for the future of humanity.

Facebook Twitter Share

Sam Carliner

Sam Carliner is a socialist with a background in journalism. He mainly writes for Left Voice about US imperialism. He also tweets about imperialism as @saminthecan.

Latin America

Declaration on the Migrant Crisis: Socialists From the U.S., Mexico, Venezuela, and Costa Rica Denounce Anti-Immigrant Policies

In light of the unprecedented migration crisis at the U.S.-Mexico border, we present the following international declaration from the Revolutionary Socialist Organization of Costa Rica, the League of Socialist Workers of Venezuela, the Socialist Workers Movement of Mexico and Left Voice of the United States, all members of the Trotskyist Fraction - Fourth International, alongside the chapters of the international feminist organization, Bread and Roses, of these countries.

Historic Election for the Anticapitalist Left in Jujuy, Argentina

Alejandro Vilca, Trotskyist, sanitation worker and representative of the Workers’ Left Front socialist coalition, earned 13 percent of the vote in Sunday’s gubernatorial election. It’s an achievement unmatched in 40 years.

U.S. Prepares Ultimatum to Mexico Over Energy Dispute: Give Us Your Markets, Now

The United States has accused Mexico of violating the USMCA free trade agreement, arguing that western powers should be free to access the country’s electricity industry. As of now, Mexico is standing firm against the corporate raiding.

Arturo Méndez

April 15, 2023

Reflections on the Peruvian Uprising

A comrade from Argentina shares their experience of the Peruvian Uprising

Matías Busi

April 7, 2023

MOST RECENT

Image by the Economist, Satoshi Kimbayashi

The Debt Ceiling Agreement is an Attack on the Working Class and on the Planet

Joe Biden and Kevin McCarthy’s deal to raise the debt ceiling is a handout to the military industrial complex and an attack on the working class and the planet. Rather than just raising the debt ceiling, a relatively standard practice that allows the U.S. to pay the bills for spending that already happened, this debt ceiling deal caps discretionary spending on everything but “defense” and fast-tracks the Mountain Valley Pipeline.

Image in The Stand

SCOTUS v. Labor Movement: The Court Rules Against Workers

The Supreme Court issued a ruling which aims to weaken strikes. It is no coincidence that this comes at a time when unions have massive support among the general population. The labor movement must fight back against the state's attacks on our collective power.

Luigi Morris

June 3, 2023

This Pride Month, There is Hope In Fighting Back. Pride is in the Streets.

Pride is in the streets. It is the history of our community, it is the history of our struggle. Let us do them honor.

Ezra Brain

June 2, 2023
A rainbow display at the supermarket Target during Pride Month 2022.

Target Doesn’t Care about LGBTQ+ People

At Target and Anheuser-Busch, policies of inclusion and diversity have clashed with profit ambitions.

Pablo Herón

June 2, 2023