Brazil's President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced Thursday that Sonia Guajajara will head up a new Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, with a mandate to oversee policies ranging from land demarcation to health care.
Guajajara fiercely opposed attempts to legalize these policies, and that opposition was largely successful. She also experienced the murders in 2019 and 2020 ofappointment and 15 others
in the capital of Brasilia Thursday, several Indigenous organizations, among them the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon, congratulated her in social media for the nomination. An organization of officials who work in Indigenous affairs also congratulated the future minister and the Indigenous social movement in general for the nomination.The lands where Brazil’s Indigenous peoples live constitute one of the world’s most important carbon sinks. The Amazon rainforest acts as a buffer against climate change by absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide.
About 13% of Brazil’s territory is demarcated as Indigenous areas, roughly the size of Colombia. Most of it is in the Amazon and covered by tropical rainforest.Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative
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