Brazil’s Bolsonaro backs legalization of mining in Indigenous lands amidst Russia invasion

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro has reiterated the need to allow mining in the nation’s Indigenous territories to strengthen food security, as he expects Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine to increase the price of potassium.

The far-right leader said that it was important for the country to not depend on foreign nations for commodities available in abundance in Brazil.

“With the Russia/Ukraine war, today we run the risk of a shortage of potassium or an increase in its price,” Bolsonaro wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

In addition, the president said a 2020 bill that would allow mining in Indigenous lands should be approved.

Brazil depends on Russia for about 20% of its fertilizers. Overall, the nation imports nearly 80% of its fertilizers, a figure that goes up to 96% for those containing potassium, according to the agriculture ministry.

Mining in Indigenous lands is illegal in Brazil, but environmentalists worry that the Bolsonaro administration could open them to mining development that would threaten the country’s Indigenous groups.

Rosana Miranda, Campaign Advisor of the non-profit Amazon Watch told The Northern Miner that opening indigenous lands to mining has been a priority for the the Bolsonaro administration from “day one,” as such, it is “no surprise that Bolsonaro is trying to use the current external context as yet another attempt to push his agenda forward.

Miranda further described Bolsonaro’s remarks on the need to mine indigenous lands to prevent the shortage of potassium as “misleading and exaggerated.”

“Studies show that all demand for potassium in Brazil could be satisfied by reserves that are mostly out of the Amazon, and completely off the limits of Indigenous lands,” said Miranda. “Furthermore, even if mining on Indigenous lands is to be allowed, there’s a long way to make this exploration viable, which wouldn’t respond to the urgent needs Bolsonaro alludes to.”

In a report published in February, the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and Amazon Watch criticized the bill and said that it contradicted the Brazilian Constitution.

The passage of the bill would drive the destruction of 16 million hectares of Amazon rainforest, an area larger than England, the report, entitled Complicity in Destruction IV, stated.

“This assault on Indigenous lands and lives is manifested in Bill 191/2020, which aims to permit industrial and wildcat mining on Indigenous lands where they are currently prohibited, by denying the right of native peoples to veto such activities,” the report said.

It further said that there were about 2,500 active mining applications that overlapped 261 Indigenous lands, according to Brazil’s National Mining Agency.

“These applications were filed in the name of 570 mining companies, mining associations, and international groups that have applied to exploit 10.1 million hectares of land,” it said.