Page 12 - ARUBA TODAY

A12 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 6 OctOber 2018
With rights under threat, Brazil's indigenous run for office

By SARAH DiLORENZO land claims virtually impos-
Associated Press sible.
SAO PAULO (AP) — The Many fear the situation
number of indigenous Bra- could get worse. The man
zilians running for office has leading presidential polls
surged this year at a time for Oct. 7 elections, far-right
when many feel their cul- congressman Jair Bolson-
tures and lands are more aro, has said he would not
threatened than they have recognize any more indig-
been in decades. enous lands if elected.
At least 120 indigenous While Bolsonaro's running
people are running in Sun- mate, retired Gen. Hamilton
day's elections for offices Mourao, described himself
at state and federal levels. as indigenous when he reg-
While that's a tiny fraction istered as a candidate, he's
of the more than 25,000 far better known for his mili-
people running overall, it's tary career. He outraged
a 60 percent increase over many indigenous Brazilians
the number of candidates by saying the country in-
in the last elections in 2014, herited "indolence" from its
the first year in which au- native peoples.
thorities collected informa- Another vice presidential
tion about candidates' eth- candidate, activist Sonia
nicities. In this Sept. 15, 2018 photo, Airy Gaviao, center, an indigenous candidate for the local legislature Guajajara, has helped
"We're tired of being invis- in the capital of Brasilia for the Socialism and Liberty Party, poses for a photo with children during bring indigenous issues to
ible. We're tired of people a campaign rally in the Ceilandia neighborhood of Brasilia, Brazil. the national stage, though
speaking for us. We want a Associated Press her tiny Socialism and Liber-
voice," said Airy Gaviao, an ty Party has little chance of
indigenous candidate for African slaves whose de- may also be one of the the state doesn't represent winning more than a small
the local legislature in the scendants now make up dividends of policies such us at any level," said David share of seats in Congress
capital of Brasilia. the majority of the country's as quotas and scholarships Karai Popygua, a 30-year- and at state levels.
Only one indigenous per- current population. that improved indigenous old teacher and a leader Brazil's 1988 Constitution
son has ever been elected Many of the more than 300 people's access to univer- in the Indigenous Land of recognized indigenous
to Brazil's Congress: Mario distinct indigenous peoples sities in the mid-2000s, said Jaragua, a group of tradi- people's rights to their na-
Juruna from the Xavante live at the margins of so- Luis Roberto de Paula, a so- tional settlements on the tive lands and called for
people, who served one ciety. Some reside on iso- cial anthropologist who has outskirts of Sao Paulo. "And the official demarcation
term in the 1980s. It's un- lated land reserves much studied the issue. that is why we need to par- of those areas within five
clear if any of this year's the way their ancestors did, It also reflects fears that ticipate in the elections." years. But that process re-
candidates can end that while others dwell in impov- their cultures and lands are While the indigenous agen- mains unfinished, partially
drought, though wide- erished urban pockets. As a under serious threat. Many da has struggled under because of bureaucracy
spread anger at Brazil's tra- whole, they are poorer and indigenous lands are fer- previous administrations, and resistance by power-
ditional ruling class could less literate than the gen- tile and hold native forests the Coalition of Indigenous ful agribusiness, mining and
favor candidates per- eral population and face or rich mines that have People of Brazil has ac- other commercial interests.
ceived as outsiders. continuing prejudice. prompted farmers, ranch- cused President Michel Te- Bolsonaro and lawmak-
Less than 1 percent of Bra- But indigenous people ers, loggers and miners to mer's government of the ers from the rural caucus
zilians — around 790,000 have played a growing try to open them to devel- worst attacks on their rights that represents large land-
— count themselves as in- role in Brazil's larger cul- opment — sometimes by in 30 years. Indigenous ac- owners in Congress have
digenous, their numbers ture since the country's re- force. tivists are especially con- argued that demarcat-
decimated by disease and turn to democracy in the "We can't protect our com- cerned about a recent ing indigenous lands shuts
oppression following the 1980s. The increased politi- munities from being invad- rule that they say will make them off from economic
arrival of Europeans and cal participation seen now ed. So, what we see is that the recognition of pending development.q

Mexico president-elect minimizes criticism of lavish wedding

Associated Press family, recently landed on
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexi- the cover of society maga-
co's president-elect is push- zine Hola! Lopez Obrador
ing back at criticism over also attended and his pho-
the lavish wedding of one tograph made the maga-
of his closest advisers. zine.
Andres Manuel Lopez Ob- The criticism came be-
rador says the wedding cause the famously ascetic
was not a government president-elect has pre-
event but rather a private, scribed a policy of govern-
social one. ment austerity for Mexico
Cesar Yanez has worked after he takes office Dec. 1.
with Lopez Obrador for Lopez Obrador said Thurs- Mexico's President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks at a rally commemorating the
more than 20 years. His day that his opponents "are 50th anniversary of a bloody reprisal against students, at the Tlatelolco Plaza in Mexico City, Sat-
wedding to Dulce Silva, looking for any possible mis- urday, Sept. 29, 2018.
from a wealthy business take to criticize us."q Associated Press