Former Brazilian left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has promised locals he will stop illegal mining in their reservations and recognize their land claims if he wins the October presidential election. Lula visited a protest camp in Brasilia on Tuesday, where thousands of members of 200 indigenous tribes have gathered to oppose far-right President Zaire Bolsonaro’s plans to allow commercial agriculture, mining and oil exploration. “What this government has ordered against indigenous peoples must be abolished immediately,” said Lula, who held the presidency for two terms from 2003 to 2010. “No one has done more for the natives than the governments of our Labor Party, and now everything has dismantled this ruthless government,” Lula told a cheering crowd. Bolsonaro promised in 2018 not to recognize even an inch of indigenous land, gaining the support of the powerful Brazilian farm. The far-right leader follows Lula in early opinion polls ahead of the October 2 election in Brazil, with a poll published in mid-March by FSB pollster Pesquisa that found Lula likely to win 43% of the vote in the first round by 43%. if the election took place then. Indigenous leaders called on Lula to rebuild the Funai Indigenous Government’s government, which had cut funding and was running out of staff under Bolsonaro. “Lula, we are unprotected. “Our rights are being violated,” said Joenia Wapichana, the country’s only indigenous representative in Congress. He said the illegal occupation of indigenous protected lands is legalized and wildcat miners are invading shelters where they are destroying forests and polluting rivers. Illegal mining rose 46 percent due to the huge Yanomami reservation last year, as high gold prices and tacit support from Bolsonaro sparked a gold rush, causing disease, violence and infringement, according to a report released Monday. Illegal miners linked to organized crime have been accused of numerous abuses in indigenous communities, including poisoning rivers with mercury used to separate gold from sediments and violent attacks on residents. The Yanomami have said that miners often demanded sex in exchange for food. A miner allegedly demanded a arranged “marriage” with a teenage girl in exchange for a “merchandise” he never delivered.
