In the process of producing a series of articles last year on the continued loosening of protections for indigenous communities in Brazil, the intensification of deforestation in the Amazon Basin, and the Jair Bolsonaro government’s verbal attacks on traditional populations, The Brazilian Report consistently heard the same prognosis from indigenous specialists, environmentalists, and political analysts: that the worst was still to come. Indeed, the dismantling of environmental protection agencies is continuing, and a new bill to permit mining activities on indigenous lands has been called a “death sentence” for traditional populations.
The legislative proposal submitted by the Jair...