Some 4,000 indigenous people from all over the country are expected for the three-day annual “Free Land” demonstration. They have set up camp along the main avenue leading to the iconic Congress building amid heavy security.
This year’s event has taken on special importance after Mr Bolsonaro, who has promised to “integrate” indigenous people into the rest of the population and questioned the existence of their reserves, took office in January.
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Mr Bolsonaro says the indigenous territories are too big in relation to the people who live there and has promised to freeze new demarcations and open some of them to agriculture and mining.
The president has already transferred the creation and limitation of reserves from Brazil’s indigenous rights agency, Funai, to the agriculture ministry, a controversial decision that was seen as a victory for the powerful agribusiness sector.
Source: Brazil’s indigenous people: ‘We fight for the right to exist’
