Lula participates in the 52nd General Assembly of Indigenous Peoples, in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, in Roraima.| Photo: Ricardo Stuckert

The President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, announced this Monday (13) that the demarcation of indigenous lands will be one of the priorities of his government. The announcement was made during the 52nd General Assembly of Indigenous Peoples, in the Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous Land, in Roraima.

According to Lula, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) will present a survey of all the lands that are ready to be demarcated. “We need to demarcate them, before people take possession of them, before they invent false documents, false deeds and say that they own the land”, he said.

In addition to the demarcation, the president mentioned that the government is going to study a financing program for indigenous agricultural production. “If we have money to finance entrepreneurs, family farming, large landowners, why is there no money to finance indigenous peoples in their production?”, he declared.

During the event with representatives of various tribes in Brazil, Lula also promised to recreate the Council of Indigenous Peoples and informed that this year the presidents of the Amazonian countries – Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru and Bolivia – should meet.