Brazilian Indigenous Win Supreme Court Victory to Keep Their Land In Mato Grosso

“On August 16, Brazil’s Supreme Court unanimously rejected a government-backed proposal that would have taken more land away from indigenous people based on a ‘Time frame’ (Marco Temporal) thesis that asserted indigenous people would not have rights to lands they hadn’t been occupying in 1988, the year of the country’s most recent constitution.

The Court was asked to look at two land title issues from the state of Mato Grosso. Brazilian President Michel Temer and rich landowners (known as ruralists in Brazil) supported the idea that the state of Mato Grosso could seize the Xingu National Park and territory belonging to the Nambikwara and Parecis peoples because indigenous people were not occupying those areas in 1988.

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) disagreed and stated that those lands are “immemorially indigenous” and that Mato Grosso could not expropriate those lands.”

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Article Source: https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com