Indigenous protesters march on Brazil Congress over land rights 0 SHARES Share it! Share TweetBy Agence France-PresseThousands of indigenous people decorated with traditional feathers and body paint converged on Brazil’s capital Wednesday to defend hard-won land rights many fear could be eroded by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro. There are more than 800,000 indigenous people and more than 300 different tribes in the country of 209 million people, according to Brazil’s FUNAI indigenous affairs agency. The populist leader has already stripped FUNAI of the power to define native land, giving that authority instead to the agriculture ministry. Bolsonaro vowed during last year’s election campaign that he would not give up “one centimeter more” of land to indigenous communities in Brazil, home to around 60 percent of the Amazon rainforest.

Source: Manila Bulletin April 24, 2019 14:37 UTC