In an order on September 23, Ibama President Eduardo Fortunato Bim unblocked 22 hectares, criticized the fines alteady applied and brought on him all the lawsuits regarding five indigenous reservations in northwestern Brazil, Mato Grosso.
This area has been the focus of pressure from the ruralist bench since the beginning of the Jair Bolsonaro (PSL-RJ) government. Ruralists and indigenous associations want regularization of what they call "partnerships" from indigenous to non-indigenous land in the region in order to produce large-scale soybeans and corn.
Ministers Ricardo Salles (Environment) and Tereza Cristina (Agriculture) came to visit the embargoed lands in February to express support to the farmers and Paracis.
At the time, Salles said that indigenous people and farmers "are persecuted by state agents, who, thanks to the ideological view of watermelon [green on the outside, red on the inside], raise the most absurd positions to underestimate, undermine the work of this group."
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon