The Brazilian government is pushing ahead with a controversial bill that allows mining activity on indigenous lands, and it won’t give local communities any veto power, a cabinet member said.
The private sector will naturally refrain from exploring in areas if indigenous groups are against it, Alexandre Vidigal, the mining secretary at the Energy Ministry, said Tuesday in an interview.
“It is obvious that if an indigenous community opposes a certain mining activity, there won’t be a entrepreneur interested in developing it,” he said on the sidelines of an event in Rio de Janeiro. He expects the government will conclude the text of the bill by the end of the month.
Proposals to explore resources on indigenous lands were stalled in Congress in recent years amid strong opposition in and outside of the country, but they have gained renewed momentum under President Jair Bolsonaro’s administration and a business-friendly legislature.
Bolsonaro has repeatedly criticized the size of territories occupied by indigenous groups, which account for 14% of Brazilian land. The former army captain argues that developing the Amazon’s natural resources could ramp-up economic growth and that indigenous people should integrate into modern society.
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