No cryptocurrency for native Brazilians, says Ministry of Human Rights

Native Brazilian Child from Tupi Guarani Tribe.

Damares Alves, minister of the newly created Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, decided to cancel a contract of almost BRL 45 million signed by Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency (Funai) and the Fluminense Federal University (UFF). The agreement was published on November 28, just a few weeks before the end of Michel Temer’s term as president.

Among the services the university was supposed to provide were functional mapping, the creation of territorial databases, and the implementation of a cryptocurrency for indigenous populations. The majority of the funds (BRL 35 million) would come from the 2018 budget, with BRL 10 million being paid in 2019. There was no public bidding.

Last week, Funai servants protested the new contract, claiming it has...

Diogo Rodriguez

Diogo Rodriguez is a social scientist and journalist based in São Paulo. He worked in the first Brazilian Report team, back in 2017, leaving in 2018 to pursuit a master's degree from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY. He has returned to The Brazilian Report in 2023.