by Ana Ionova
As the demand for land increases, incursions near and into Indigenous lands that neighbor palm oil plantations are also on the rise.
Cultivation of oil palm has surged in Brazil’s northern state of Roraima over the last decade, fueled by an ambitious push towards biofuels.
While palm oil companies operating in the area claim they do not deforest, critics say they are contributing to a surge in demand for cleared land in this region, driving cattle ranchers, soy farmers and land speculators deeper into the forest.
As the demand for land increases, incursions near and into Indigenous lands that neighbor palm oil plantations are also on the rise.
In Brazil, an indigenous woman joins Bolsonaro in fight for mining
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Bolsonaro wants mining in the Amazon An indigenous leader agrees
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In Brazil, an indigenous woman joins Bolsonaro in fight for mining
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And for once, in her view, she is being heard.
For decades her family picked and panned the borderland near Venezuela, scouring the hills for diamonds and gold.
They kept digging even after Brazil in 2005 marked the land as indigenous territory, a measure that prohibited mining despite protests from her family and other wildcatters in her Macuxi tribe.
Now, Silva has the ear of none other than Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s president.
A fervid nationalist abhorred by the global green movement for his eagerness to develop the Amazon rainforest, Bolsonaro has twice met Silva in the capital Brasilia.
He first saw her, together with some other like-minded tribal leaders, soon after taking power in January 2019 to discuss a bill that would authorize mining on native lands.