Brazil is once again debating marco temporal, the law that would deal a severe blow to indigenous lands. The decision now lies with the Senate. And with Lula.
On 30 May, 283 Brazilian deputies against 155 voted to approve PL490 in Congress, a bill that promotes the thesis of the marco temporal (or temporal threshold): according to the thesis, indigenous peoples who cannot prove that on 5 October 1988 – the day on which the Brazilian Constitution was promulgated – they were physically living on their lands, no longer have any right to them.
Those who defend the rights of indigenous peoples have always criticised the bill, which would destroy the demarcation process of indigenous lands.
Before the law was approved in the Chamber, demonstrations took place by representatives of indigenous peoples, who in São Paulo blocked the motorway and set fire to tyres in protest against the law. They then used bows and arrows to confront the police, who dispersed them with tear gas.
Groups of indigenous peoples from across the country had planned a week of protests outside Congress in the capital Brasília. Meanwhile, cacique (that is, tribal chief) Raoni Metuktire presented a petition against the restrictions on the demarcation of native lands.
"This is the gravest attack on indigenous rights in decades," states Survival International. "It is crucial that a massive international outcry is raised to prevent its final approval by Congress, which is still dominated by a large number of anti-indigenous politicians."
According to the organisation, the approval of the law would pave the way for the reduction or cancellation of any indigenous territory in Brazil, which could then be replaced by mines, oil wells or other industrial projects. Those who, like loggers, have illegally invaded indigenous territories will be able to remain there and continue to destroy the forest. "The marco temporal is a stratagem devised in favour of corporations," concludes Survival, which has launched a petition addressed to Brazilian senators.
The agency Reuters, unlike Survival, writes that the law would only call into question territories that are under discussion: there are around 300 territories inhabited by indigenous peoples for which protection is being sought. These were mapped years ago and are located mainly in the Amazon rainforest, but have not yet been formally recognised.
In September 2021, the Supreme Court had suspended indefinitely the process on the demarcation of indigenous lands, without setting a date for the ruling. Now, however, the Supreme Court is, in parallel with the vote in Congress, resuming its discussion on the marco temporal: the court's judges have been divided over the constitutionality of the law.
Meanwhile, indigenous leaders – for whom the approval of the law in recent days is the result of pressure from the agribusiness lobby on the Brazilian Congress, which would therefore have accelerated the parliamentary process of the law – are calling on newly elected president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who defeated Jair Bolsonaro in the last elections, to protect indigenous peoples as he promised during his electoral campaign. The bill, in fact, still requires approval from the Senate, where there are two indigenous activists – Sônia Guajajara and Célia Xakriabá – and the signature of President Lula, who has always declared himself opposed to the marco temporal.
Despite these premises, Survival says it is concerned: "if the majority of senators were to vote in favour of the law, it would then pass to President Lula," the press office of Survival Italy tells us, "who can approve it or impose a total or partial veto. But if he were to impose a veto, the bill would have to return to Congress and the deputies and senators would have to approve or reject the veto, reaching a final decision on the validity of the law."