Indigenous protesters tried to prevent a public hearing this Friday on the construction of a railway that would cross their lands to transport grain to a port in the northern Amazon.
The 1,000km Ferrogrão railway is supported by farmers and grain companies who say it would reduce dependence on roads and lower the costs of transporting soybeans from Mato Grosso to river ports in the Amazon basin.
But the Munduruku and Kayapó indigenous communities say they were not consulted about the project, which has impacts on the environment and deforestation in the region.
About 100 protesters carrying banners blocked the entrance to the hearing in Novo Progresso in the southern state of Pará, but the meeting finally began when protesters left the building, social media videos posted by participants showed .
“The railway is a development project that will be good for everyone,” one of its main supporters, Senator Zequinha Marinho (Podemos-PA), told protesters.
Leading the protest was Alessandra Munduruku, a 2023 Goldman Environmental winner for her efforts to stop mining development in the Amazon and protect the rainforest.
“We cannot allow a hearing to take place against our territory. We are worried about the future of our children,” Alessandra Munduruku told Reuters by phone.
“People are worried about climate change, but Congress is worried about profiting from our lands,” he added, referring to the parliamentary vote the day before that overturned President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s veto on the timing of the demarcation of indigenous lands. .
The decision whether or not to set a deadline for land claims now rests with the Federal Court (STF).
In August, in a decision on Ferrogrão, the STF maintained the suspension of a government plan to reduce the size of a forest conservation park to allow for the construction of the railway, while new studies are awaited.
The railway was designed to connect the port of Mirituba, in Pará, to the municipality of Sinop, in Mato Grosso.
Source: Terra
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