Video-Interview with Sue Branford: “Climate of Lawlessness in the Amazon”

By Richard Mann, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – “Uprising with Sonali” speaks with Sue Branford, author of “Amazon Besieged,” about who is behind recent massacres in Brazil’s Amazon.

Branford says:

• It seems that the landowners are organizing the killings (Rondônia).
• Landlords see a window of opportunity to chase indigenous people from their land.
• An “Al-Jazzera” report says, hired hitmen are making the killing on behalf of landowners.
• Brazil is moving into a dangerous phase.
• Getting accurate information is difficult.
• Earlier Brazilian government tried to integrate indigenous people into Brazilian society. Make them like other Brazilians.
• The new constitution in 1988, after the Military moved out, recognized that the Indians have the right to their land and the right to continue with their own culture and language. It was a big step forward.
• Now Bolsonaro is trying to turn the clock back.
• He is trying to chase the indigenous people off their land so that they can use this land for mining and business.
• Regulation in Brazil is deteriorating. There is a rush in multiplying mining.
• We are in a dangerous and unprecedented period in Brazil.
• The Indians have a strong link with their land. They will resist very actively and defend their territory.
• Alliances are forming among different tribes
• We are going in the wrong directions in a moment in which the world needs more environmental protection and not less.
• Almost 20 percent of the Amazon forest has already been destroyed
• If continued, Amazon will flip over to be a Savannah
• The Amazon plays a crucial role in stabilizing the world climate
• That is why this is not only a Brazilian problem but a global crisis.

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