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| Yanomami boy, Brazil.
© Victor Englebert/Survival |
Five hundred and fifty leaders from eighty-six Brazilian tribes have written an open letter slamming President Lula's government's record on indigenous peoples.
The Indians from the eighty-six tribes spent three days last week
camped on Brasília's Avenue of Ministries. Indian organisations have
declared this month Indigenous April' in order to highlight their
concerns.
The Indian leaders slam the Lula government's indigenous policy as
retrograde.' They continue, The few advances have been won by our
peoples and organisations through pressure and struggle and with some
of our relatives sacrificing their lives.'
The Indian leaders complain that the government's attitude is
patronising, and that it treats the demarcation of their lands as a
benefit rather than a right. The government's progress in recognising
indigenous land has been extremely slow: of fourteen priority cases
identified in April 2005, only one has been completed.
The Indians also draw attention to the worsening state of health among
indigenous peoples in the past year following changes to the structure
of health care provided by the government.
