Indigenous leader Raoni ‘wants to make sure’ Brazil’s Lula will keep promises on Amazon • FRANCE 24

Indigenous leader Raoni ‘wants to make sure’ Brazil’s Lula will keep promises on Amazon • FRANCE 24

Hello and welcome to tet FRS 24 Flagship interview show our guest today is Chief RI mat he is the chief of the kayapo and a well known defender of the amazonus in Brazil thank you very much one of the proposals made by the government in Brazil during uh the cup

28 in Dubai was the creation a fund to salvage tropical forest is this a positive step and do you really think it will become a reality that will help protect populations and the cultures like yours I was very happy when I heard those news I was really very glad very happy to hear

That and I hope this will actually translate into real funding to save guard forests and it won’t be just empty words without any action to back it up I think it is really very important for us to go down this Avenue so we can protect forests throughout the world as well as

The Amazonian Forest because it is key to the survival of mankind on this Earth it helps to regulate climate and we have seen climate is drastically changing reelected president Lula Silva promised that he would totally stop illegal deforestation by 203 this is in less than seven years do

You really think he will be able to fulfill his I would like to talk to you tell you what is going on he is moving away people who cut our trees not her tree no Lula says he is working for us and it is true he did a lot for

Us what is happening today in Brazil is that in Congress there is a lot of people who are against us this is why I’m truly worried because he’s not the only one who has power and that is what worries me Lula and I we sat together and he

Said he was going to demarcate the lands of indigenous peoples who do not yet own their land but I can see that that is really hard to achieve there are lots of people in Congress close to bonaro who are opposed to that furthermore funai the brazili institution in charge of demarcating

Indigenous land has already demarcated some of that land but a lot of people are opposed to that already some MPS have opposed setting up those lands currently we can see there is a real conflict and that is why I have to go on fighting and I will keep on fighting

Because because those lands are where I was born where I grew up where I spent my whole life where my parents and my grandparents live they fought for these lands and I will keep on fighting because nowadays people came to occupy those lands without even Consulting

Us this is how I realize we have to keep on fighting so these land be demarcated definitely and forever I would like to know whether Lula will honor his commitments that’s why I will go and see him and ask him that question because our people expect that

Much from him but I want to make sure that is actually what he will do come you better make one gets the impression that even though Lula is a big improvement from his predecessor J bolsonaro you still doubt whether he will deliver on his promise to stop that forestation to create more

Reserves for the indigenous people you have doubts about Lula de Silva don’t you president Lula made that promise to me he promised he would demarcate land but it has not been done so far every time I go and see him I will hold them accountable tomorrow go back to Brazil and

Wednesday I have an appointment with Lula and I will ask Lula will you really demaret those lands and will fight all the way so it be carried out I want to ask you about massive use of pesticides in Brazil we know that this is used for agriculture for corn for soya and so

On also the Lula government wants to encourage the exploration of oil are you worried that even though this is not directly about Forest those policies put in place are not exactly favorable to the environment I believe the way the lad is used nowadays is Terrible what they are doing now is siphoning all the resources from the land and killing it yeah and this will raise very real problems going forward because that land will not produce anything make I think we must absolutely change the way we use the land this is really

Important as for myself aside from my position as a c I am a Shan I had dreams and I saw some terrible things which will undermine not just us the indigenous people but everyone because if you keep on killing those lands they will no longer provide resources is now gone of

Course but do you think the decisions he took especially regarding Forest do you think his influence is still there in today’s Brazil I did not like bolsonaro at all what he did what he said that was awful he said you could kill some Natives and some were actually killed

It really was a very sad situation you are right you said that much J bonaro is no longer in power but he still influential in spite of that he still has a lot of power among other things he still very influential in Congress both in the National Assembly and in the Senate

And that influence is directed against indigenous people last question Chief Roni you have been campaigning for years for decades actually to defend the Amazon the forest would you say that today you’re more optimistic than several years ago or on the contrary that you think uh the future is somber for your culture and

Your Populations I defending the forest I am defending men and I am defending Rivers I want them be left alone in the forest both trees and men I have been fighting to protect the Amazonian Forest since I was young but I am increasingly tied so even though I will keep on fighting with all

The energy I have left I will now introduce members of my family and other indigenous people who can take over when I’m gone Chief I want to thank you very much for coming on the FRS 24 set thank you all for watching this show

In an interview with FRANCE 24, Indigenous leader Raoni Metuktire expressed concern that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva might fail to keep his promises on the Amazon rainforest, particularly on demarcating the lands of Indigenous peoples. Although Raoni, who is chief of the Amazonian Kayapo people, admitted that the announcements from Lula since his return to power in January 2023 are encouraging, he said that the continued influence of Lula’s predecessor Jair Bolsonaro and his allies represents an obstacle to their implementation.

Read more about this story in our article: https://f24.my/A1TA.y

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