Artists pressure Lula government for more environmental protection

In a video released on social networks, artists and indigenous people came together to pressure President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) asking for environmental protection and more actions on the subject by the federal government. Dissatisfied with the advance of matters in the National Congress, the artists specifically criticize the supposed setbacks in environmental policies, such as the increase in fires and deforestation, destruction of flora and fauna and the supposed “massacre” of indigenous people.

“On the other side, the ruralists are putting a lot of pressure on the government to advance their interests. We need to shout louder!”, say the organizers in the publication. In the video, one of the artists says that “we elected this government because it painted itself green”, referring to the promises made by Lula. During the 2022 election campaign, Lula defended the strengthening of inspection bodies and the fight against actions harmful to the environment, such as illegal mining and deforestation.

The artists also set up a website to publicize the action and ask for a petition to be signed that should be delivered to President Lula to reinforce requests for more environmental protection. “We need to be thousands asking #EnvironmentalPoliciesSTAY for President Lula!”, says the text published on the official website of the action.

The action takes place after the approval of the PL of the time frame for the demarcation of indigenous lands, in the Chamber of Deputies, and the change in the organization of ministries proposed by the Lula government. Voting on the proposals relied on the mobilization of the agribusiness bench, which guaranteed the votes for approval of the matters.

In the vote on the restructuring of ministries, in particular, the portfolios for the Environment and Indigenous Peoples underwent changes that were criticized by environmentalists. The Ministry of the Environment lost, for example, control over the National Water and Basic Sanitation Agency (Ana). In the case of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, Minister Sonia Guajajara saw her competence in the demarcation of indigenous lands transferred to Flávio Dino’s Ministry of Justice.