What did the minutes record while Covid-19 spread among indigenous and quilombola communities?

By Rubens Valente, Alice Maciel, Caio de Freitas Paes, Laura Scofield, Matheus Santino, Bianca Muniz, Thiago Domenici, Public Agency - By the end of 2022, more than 900 Indigenous people and at least 301 quilombola people had died from COVID-19. The high rate of infections and deaths in traditional and urban territories, and the lack of infrastructure provided by the State (such as the lack of potable water in the villages), led representative organizations of these communities to denounce the "omission" of the federal government in managing the health crisis—the complaints were taken to the Supreme Federal Court (STF), which forced the government to take action. 

Now, 233 confidential documents obtained through the Access to Information Law (LAI) by Agência Pública finally reveal what the government's priorities were while Covid-19 spread among traditional peoples. 

The records are part of the written record of meetings held between 2020 and 2021, which were previously kept secret, conducted by the CCOP and obtained exclusively by Agência Pública via the Access to Information Law (LAI). The meetings involved representatives from 26 agencies in the Esplanada, including the main ministries, regulatory agencies, public banks, the Federal Police, and ABIN (Brazilian Intelligence Agency). The CCOP was created by a decree from Bolsonaro at the very beginning of the pandemic, on March 24, 2020. 

Before the Supreme Court's demands within the scope of the Arguments of Non-Compliance with Fundamental Precepts (ADPFs) 709, concerning indigenous peoples, and 742, concerning quilombola communities, the creation of a plan to control the spread of the disease among these populations was postponed in the meetings of the Operations Coordination Center of the Covid-19 Crisis Committee (CCOP), headed by the Civil House, then commanded by Army reserve general Walter Braga Netto.

The few mentions of indigenous and quilombola communities were brought up by the states—in meetings between them and the federal government—or appeared to indicate the implementation of some specific assistance measure, such as the distribution of basic food baskets. 

In one episode, on July 3 of that year, former minister and current senator Damares Alves (Republicanos), from the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH), said she was "concerned" about the situation of the Xavante indigenous people in Mato Grosso. She blamed the increased incidence of Covid-19 among the people on an alleged "culture of parties and celebrations" within the group. At the time, there was no law protecting indigenous territories from the entry of foreigners who could bring the disease. Following this statement, the MMFDH held several meetings to address the issue, but the discussions are not recorded in the minutes.

Law 14.021/2020, which seeks to protect indigenous territories from Covid-19 contamination, was approved on July 7, 2020, months after the start of the pandemic.

The minutes also record requests for greater dissemination of government actions. In a statement on May 7, 2020, the representative of the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights said that it was "important to improve the dissemination of actions taken, such as those directed at serving indigenous populations."

Months later, on July 8th of that year, the request was repeated: “Strengthen strategic communication in all actions carried out for Traditional Peoples and Communities,” recalled the representative of the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights. On that day, the National Committee for Indigenous Life and Memory indicated that 253 indigenous people had already died from Covid-19. 

The Institutional Security Office (GSI), then headed by retired Army General Augusto Heleno, also expressed concern about the government's national and international image regarding its actions towards traditional peoples during the pandemic.

On August 31 of that year, the GSI representative “informed that this week there will be an international demonstration against the federal government with emphasis on Indigenous and Environmental issues, with the participation of Swedish activist Greta Thunberg through the Fridays for Future movement. Greenpeace also joined the movement” and asked the government to present “the various projects and achievements made on this issue”. The demonstration focused on Brazil had already taken place that same week, on Friday (28), prior to the GSI statement. 

On September 16, the Civil House reinforced the request that the information provided by the GSI regarding traditional peoples be replicated by other agencies.

The contingency plan

According to the minutes, concern about communication was constant, but the concrete development of Covid-19 contingency plans among traditional peoples did not seem to be a priority. Right at the beginning of the pandemic, on April 2, 2020, the Civil House stated that the Indigenous Peoples Crisis Committee would hold a meeting to “develop a strategic plan for action” and that the expectation was that by Sunday (5) “the most important activities and actions would be outlined”. On April 6, the Secretariat for Articulation and Monitoring, linked to the Civil House (SAM-CC), made another reminder that the management plan would be created to serve “176 indigenous, riverside and quilombola people”.

At the same meeting, the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights said that it had been asked by the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office about the response to Covid-19 among traditional peoples and that they wanted to "consolidate this so as not to have future problems".

The next mention of indigenous peoples occurred on April 13th, but no plan was presented. The information shared by the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH) was that the first death of an indigenous person had been registered—the ministry also thanked the Civil House for "anticipating the measure for indigenous peoples," referring to the movement to create the strategic plan, which had not yet been completed. 

According to the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), at least four indigenous people had already died by that date. 

Months later, on June 10, 2020, the MMFDH reported that they were still "awaiting" suggestions from the Ministries for the creation of the Contingency Plan for Traditional Peoples and Communities, "with a greater focus on Indigenous Peoples"—while quilombola peoples were mentioned only 11 times in the minutes, indigenous peoples appear 97 times. 

On July 8, 2020, the Supreme Federal Court intervened. In response to ADPF 709, filed by APIB and six political parties, Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, the case's rapporteur, ordered the government to act to contain the spread of Covid-19 and its mortality rate among the indigenous population. The contingency plan was to be presented within 30 days. 

Prompted by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), Augusto Heleno's Institutional Security Office (GSI) stated, at the July 15th meeting of the Operations Coordination Center (CCOP), that the first meeting to address the issue would take place two days later. The meeting would likely include the presence of STF Justice Luís Roberto Barroso, where the federal government will showcase all the work it has already done to combat the pandemic for Indigenous Peoples, in alignment with the Operations Coordination Center (CCOp).

The creation of the contingency plan was only expedited after the Supreme Federal Court (STF) intervened in the case, setting a deadline. On the 20th of that month, the Institutional Security Office (GSI) reminded that the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH) was still creating the plan, which would be presented “within the deadline stipulated by the STF”. The ministry headed by Damares Alves then said that the “monitoring [of Covid-19 among traditional peoples] is done with great care”, without explaining what this meant in practice. 

The plan presented by the Bolsonaro government was rejected four times. The minister said that the projects presented were "generic" and it was not possible to monitor their implementation. When questioned about the issue at the meeting on October 23, 2020, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) blamed the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights (MMFDH), claiming that "the unapproved part of the plan" came from Damares' ministry, as recorded in the minutes consulted by Pública.

From the initial rejection of the presented project, most of the mentions of indigenous peoples are permeated by discussions on how to address Barroso's requests within the scope of ADPF 709. On December 30, 2020, the ministries requested assistance from the Presidency and the Civil House, but the plan continued to be rejected. The CCOP meeting thus began to be used to organize responses to the STF.

The contingency plan was only partially approved by Barroso on March 16, 2021, almost a year after it was first mentioned in minutes, even before the Supreme Court's intervention. According to the minister, several of his directives were not followed, demonstrating a "profound lack of coordination" on the part of the bodies involved in drafting the document. Barroso also stated that he decided to partially approve the proposal because the existence of a plan was urgent to save lives.

The same dynamic — of only drawing up concrete plans after court orders — is seen in the minutes both in relation to the Manaus tragedy and with regard to the quilombola communities, which are even more neglected than the indigenous communities.

On March 24, 2021, when the ordeal of creating the contingency plan for Indigenous peoples had already been overcome, the CCOP began to look at Quilombola communities—again, only after being compelled to do so by the Supreme Federal Court (STF). On that day, the Attorney General's Office (AGU) spoke about ADPF 742, which sought the implementation of emergency measures to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 in Quilombola territories.

The Attorney General's Office (AGU) had learned that on March 19th, the Supreme Federal Court (STF) compelled the government to develop, "within 30 days, a national plan to address the Covid-19 pandemic aimed at the Quilombola population and; health protocols to ensure the effectiveness of vaccination in the priority phase."

The first draft was delivered on April 9th, but the National Coordination of Articulation of Rural Quilombola Black Communities (Conaq) filed a complaint with the Supreme Federal Court (STF) arguing that the plan presented by the government was insufficient. Therefore, in early May, the rapporteur, Minister Edson Fachin, requested more information. 

On the 26th of that month, the quilombola communities were mentioned for the last time in the minutes, this time by the MMFDH (Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights). The ministry representative said that the 6th meeting of the working group created to establish the plan would take place that day and requested the participation of other ministries. 

On July 22, 2021, the government website published estimates for the plan's implementation. The document is a 14-page PowerPoint presentation.

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