The USNDB stands with APIB and Sonia Guajajara
The US Network for Democracy in Brazil expresses its solidarity with Sonia Guajajara, Almir Suruí, Rubens Suruí, and Indigenous leaders throughout the country who continue to suffer persecution and intimidation by the Bolsonaro regime. Their offense? Outspoken critique of the administration’s gross violation of Indigenous rights and reckless mishandling of the Covid crisis for Indigenous and other Brazilian peoples.
Accused of “defamation” by the government for participating in separate media campaigns to draw attention to the dire situation of Brazil’s Indigenous communities, including over one thousand Indigenous deaths due to Covid, these leaders have been interrogated in recent days by Federal Police at the behest of FUNAI (the National Indian Foundation), currently led by Federal Police Chief, Marcelo Xavier.
It is shocking and unacceptable that the very entity charged with safeguarding the well-being of Indigenous peoples and the integrity of Indigenous lands continues to do precisely the opposite. The Bolsonaro government and those who support these scare tactics are an anathema to democracy in Brazil and to human decency everywhere.