PL of the time frame advances, but STF can change understanding

Federal deputies are due to vote, this Tuesday (30), on a bill that establishes the year 1988 as the time frame for the demarcation of indigenous lands in Brazil. The vote is an articulation of the agribusiness bench to mark the position of Congress on the subject, since next week the constitutionality of the temporal framework will be analyzed by the Federal Supreme Court (STF).

Last week, the Agricultural Parliamentary Front (FPA) showed that it is capable of mobilizing the Chamber of Deputies around the time frame bill (PL 490/2007): 324 deputies from the opposition and from the Centrão voted for the acceleration of the proposal in the House; and 131 parliamentarians, from leftist parties, voted against.

In this Tuesday’s vote, 257 votes will be needed for the approval of the bill’s merits – simple majority. Passing through the Chamber of Deputies, the proposal will go to the Senate, where there is already an articulation for it to move more quickly.

If the deputies approve, Senator Luis Carlos Heinze (PP-RS) signaled that, as soon as the text reaches the Senate, he will present an urgent request for the vote on the time frame to be made directly in the plenary of the House. 27 signatures of senators are needed for the urgency to be ruled. The urgency vote must be symbolic, that is, it will not be possible to verify who voted against and in favor of accelerating the procedure.

The agro caucus believes that the project will provide legal security to farmers and promote peace in the countryside, establishing clearer criteria for the demarcation of indigenous lands. Organizations linked to the indigenous cause, on the other hand, understand that the acceleration of the processing of the PL of the time frame on the eve of the judgment in the STF disrespects the Supreme Court and democratic institutions.

Proposal seeks to make STF decision law

The PL for the time frame has been under discussion in Congress since 2007. Originally, it intended to transfer the competence to demarcate indigenous lands from the Executive to the Legislative. After alterations proposed through substitutive texts, the project also started to deal with the time frame.

Currently, the text presented by the rapporteur for PL 490, deputy Arthur Maia (União-BA), reinforces the application of the 19 conditions that were presented by the STF in 2009 during the judgment on the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous reserve (PET 3388/RR) , confronting the idea that the timeframe would result in damage or withdrawal of rights conquered by indigenous peoples.

In the opinion of the agro-caucus, the STF, on that occasion, declared the demarcation of the indigenous land demarcation procedure considering the time frame of 10/05/1988 and the 19 conditions.

Among these constraints are points such as the ban on expanding areas already demarcated and the possibility for the Union to decide on the use of wealth whenever there is public interest. It is also stated that the Union can install entrances, communication networks and services for health and education in the demarcated areas. In addition, there is a provision that indigenous lands cannot be leased and the prohibition of carrying out businesses that restrict indigenous rights. All these points were considered in the substitute presented by the rapporteur of the PL for the time frame, Deputy Arthur Maia.

For the FPA, sectors of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) seek to relativize the time frame, something that brings great legal uncertainty to the subject.

Agro bench wants to “empty” STF judgment on the time frame

The vote on the merits of the project should take place in the week before the resumption of the judgment in the STF. In the understanding of the FPA, the approval of the PL of the time frame “emptyes” the judgment, since the proposal regulates the provisions of the Federal Constitution.

“It has been 16 years since it has been processed, the PL 490 [do marco temporal]and I believe that with this approval we will be able to stop this initiative by the Federal Supreme Court that will generate a gigantic crisis in our sector, legal uncertainty for our producers”, said the president of the FPA, deputy Pedro Lupion (PP-PR) in an interview for the Rural Channel. “We are talking about the possibility of 22% of indigenous demarcation of the national territory and we have to guarantee the property rights of those who actually have title to the land and today are doomed to not even receive compensation for these areas”, he warned.

However, there is no guarantee that, even if the project is approved, the Supreme Court will no longer rule on the time frame action, which has general repercussions, that is, it will come into effect for all demarcations of indigenous lands in Brazil.

The judgment on the agenda in the STF deals with an appeal filed by the government of Santa Catarina that addresses the demarcation of the Indigenous Land Ibirama-La Klãnõ, inhabited by the Guarani, Guarani Mbya, Guarani Ñandeva, Kaingang and Xokleng peoples. The indigenous area is between the municipalities of Doutor Pedrinho, Itaiópolis, José Boiteux, and Vitor Meireles. The STF has already postponed this judgment seven times. The last time took place in June 2022 by “consensus among ministers”.

According to a study presented by the Observatório Jurídico do Agro (OJA) – linked to the Instituto Pensar Agropecuária (IPA), which provides advice to the FPA -, the estimated economic impact of the demarcation of new indigenous lands could lead to job creation: 1.5 million less, according to an estimate. In the evaluation of the OJA, it is still possible that there will be a significant increase in the price of food.

Indigenous organizations consider the proposal an attack on the STF

The Missionary Indigenous Council (Cimi) and the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), two of the main organizations that work in defense of indigenous peoples, protested against Congress’ action on the time frame agenda.

For ISA, this is an affront, especially on the part of the President of the Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), who has been accelerating the processing of the PL for the timeframe.

“Lira affronts the other powers and seeks to intimidate the STF, imitating the institutional crises forged by Bolsonaro, by placing PL 490 on the agenda. The issue is constitutional, will be judicialized and will only generate more violence, conflicts in the field and legal uncertainty, creating false expectations of annulment of demarcations”, warns ISA lawyer Juliana de Paula Batista.

Cleber Buzatto, a member of Cimi Regional Sul, stated that the vote in the Chamber is “a very objective indicator that the enemies of indigenous peoples are worried about what may happen in the judgment of the Federal Supreme Court”.

In a collective note, a group of pastoral organizations led by Cimi also spoke about “disrespect” to the STF. “The approval of the urgency in its processing takes place on the eve of the judgment, by the Federal Supreme Court (STF), of the infamous time frame. This means, on the part of the Chamber of Deputies and the President of the House, Arthur Lira (PP/AL), an enormous disrespect for the Supreme Court of Brazil and other democratic institutions”, says an excerpt from the note published by Cimi.

On another front of opposition to the project, the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) defended, in a technical note, the complete rejection of the bill on the timeframe for the demarcation of indigenous lands. The document was sent by the acting federal general public defender, Fernando Mauro Junior, last Friday (26), to Arthur Lira.