SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Sonia Guajajara, the head of Brazil's largest indigenous organization, was put under investigation last month over social media campaigns raising awareness of the threat of Covid-19 to the country's indigenous people. (Photo: Stefano Montesi - Corbis/ Getty Images)
Indigenous Rights Defenders Condemn Government Probe Into Critics of Bolsonaro's Covid Response
A federal judge denounced an investigation into two Indigenous leaders as "an illegal embarrassment."
May 13, 2021
Investigations opened last month into two Indigenous leaders in Brazil were closed this week after a federal judge denounced the government's actions as an "illegal embarrassment," but the think tank Politica por Inteiro said President Jair Bolsonaro has created "an environment of violence" against Indigenous people.
"These are not isolated cases: others have been summoned by the police in similar circumstances," Natalie Unterstell, the founder of the think tank, told The Guardian Thursday. "It is important to note that levels of civic freedom are going down in Brazil."
Groups including Global Witness and Amazon Watch have expressed support for Sonia Guajajara, the head of Brazil's largest Indigenous organization, and influential Indigenous activist Almir Surui on social media in recent days.
Guajajara, who heads the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), and Surui were put under investigation last month over Indigenous social media campaigns aimed at raising awareness of Covid-19 in their communities, which have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. A documentary series produced by Guajajara accused the government of "genocide" for failing to protect indigenous people.
According to APIB, as of March there had been more than 50,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and over 900 deaths among Indigenous communities.
Brazil has seen one of the world's worst outbreaks of the virus, exacerbated by Bolsonaro's dismissal of Covid-19 as "a little flu" and his refusal to follow or promote public health protocols like mask-wearing and social distancing despite the fact that he contracted the disease last year. More than 428,000 people in Brazil have died of Covid-19 as of Thursday.
Attempts by Guajajara, Surui, and their communities to mitigate what Doctors Without Borders called a "humanitarian catastrophe" were met with harassment by FUNAI, the Brazilian agency tasked with protecting the Indigenous population, Guajajara said. The agency accused the leaders of spreading "fake news."
"It is scary to receive a subpoena from the police for a complaint made by FUNAI itself," Guajajara told The Guardian. "This is unprecedented. It is Bolsonaro's new FUNAI, which has completely reversed its role of protecting Indigenous peoples."
Guajajara also called the investigation "an attempt at intimidation and to avoid revealing the [government's] inaction" in response to the pandemic.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Investigations opened last month into two Indigenous leaders in Brazil were closed this week after a federal judge denounced the government's actions as an "illegal embarrassment," but the think tank Politica por Inteiro said President Jair Bolsonaro has created "an environment of violence" against Indigenous people.
"These are not isolated cases: others have been summoned by the police in similar circumstances," Natalie Unterstell, the founder of the think tank, told The Guardian Thursday. "It is important to note that levels of civic freedom are going down in Brazil."
Groups including Global Witness and Amazon Watch have expressed support for Sonia Guajajara, the head of Brazil's largest Indigenous organization, and influential Indigenous activist Almir Surui on social media in recent days.
Guajajara, who heads the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), and Surui were put under investigation last month over Indigenous social media campaigns aimed at raising awareness of Covid-19 in their communities, which have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. A documentary series produced by Guajajara accused the government of "genocide" for failing to protect indigenous people.
According to APIB, as of March there had been more than 50,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and over 900 deaths among Indigenous communities.
Brazil has seen one of the world's worst outbreaks of the virus, exacerbated by Bolsonaro's dismissal of Covid-19 as "a little flu" and his refusal to follow or promote public health protocols like mask-wearing and social distancing despite the fact that he contracted the disease last year. More than 428,000 people in Brazil have died of Covid-19 as of Thursday.
Attempts by Guajajara, Surui, and their communities to mitigate what Doctors Without Borders called a "humanitarian catastrophe" were met with harassment by FUNAI, the Brazilian agency tasked with protecting the Indigenous population, Guajajara said. The agency accused the leaders of spreading "fake news."
"It is scary to receive a subpoena from the police for a complaint made by FUNAI itself," Guajajara told The Guardian. "This is unprecedented. It is Bolsonaro's new FUNAI, which has completely reversed its role of protecting Indigenous peoples."
Guajajara also called the investigation "an attempt at intimidation and to avoid revealing the [government's] inaction" in response to the pandemic.
Investigations opened last month into two Indigenous leaders in Brazil were closed this week after a federal judge denounced the government's actions as an "illegal embarrassment," but the think tank Politica por Inteiro said President Jair Bolsonaro has created "an environment of violence" against Indigenous people.
"These are not isolated cases: others have been summoned by the police in similar circumstances," Natalie Unterstell, the founder of the think tank, told The Guardian Thursday. "It is important to note that levels of civic freedom are going down in Brazil."
Groups including Global Witness and Amazon Watch have expressed support for Sonia Guajajara, the head of Brazil's largest Indigenous organization, and influential Indigenous activist Almir Surui on social media in recent days.
Guajajara, who heads the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), and Surui were put under investigation last month over Indigenous social media campaigns aimed at raising awareness of Covid-19 in their communities, which have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. A documentary series produced by Guajajara accused the government of "genocide" for failing to protect indigenous people.
According to APIB, as of March there had been more than 50,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and over 900 deaths among Indigenous communities.
Brazil has seen one of the world's worst outbreaks of the virus, exacerbated by Bolsonaro's dismissal of Covid-19 as "a little flu" and his refusal to follow or promote public health protocols like mask-wearing and social distancing despite the fact that he contracted the disease last year. More than 428,000 people in Brazil have died of Covid-19 as of Thursday.
Attempts by Guajajara, Surui, and their communities to mitigate what Doctors Without Borders called a "humanitarian catastrophe" were met with harassment by FUNAI, the Brazilian agency tasked with protecting the Indigenous population, Guajajara said. The agency accused the leaders of spreading "fake news."
"It is scary to receive a subpoena from the police for a complaint made by FUNAI itself," Guajajara told The Guardian. "This is unprecedented. It is Bolsonaro's new FUNAI, which has completely reversed its role of protecting Indigenous peoples."
Guajajara also called the investigation "an attempt at intimidation and to avoid revealing the [government's] inaction" in response to the pandemic.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.