Farmers certify landholdings the size of Vitória within indigenous areas in 2023.

By Bruno Fonseca, Rafael Oliveira, Public Agency - Thirty farms were certified within indigenous lands in Brazil in the first three months of this year. The number, resulting from a groundbreaking survey by Agência Pública, reveals that these private properties occupy approximately 9 hectares of indigenous areas—roughly the size of the municipality of Vitória, the capital of Espírito Santo.

 Certification is the term used to describe the registration of these lands with the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra), a federal government agency. It has been done digitally through the Land Management System (Sigef) since 2013. Certifying land in the system is a step towards registering rural property with land registries, obtaining rural financing, applying for environmental permits, or subdividing and parceling the area.

 Most of the farms registered within indigenous lands are in Mato Grosso do Sul. The most affected peoples are the Terena and the Guarani and Kaiowá, who are still awaiting the official recognition of part of their lands by the Federal Government. 

 It was Jair Bolsonaro's government that authorized the certification of farms within indigenous lands that had not yet been officially recognized. This occurred through Normative Instruction No. 9, of April 2020, published by Funai (which at the time was called the National Indian Foundation). The immediate revocation of the instruction was recommended by the Technical Group on Indigenous Peoples in the report presented to Lula's transition team at the end of 2022, but this has not yet happened.

 The process of demarcating indigenous lands works like a kind of ladder: the homologation—which is the president's responsibility—is the penultimate step; after that, only the definitive registration is needed. Unhomologated lands are those that haven't yet reached these last two steps and can be at different stages of the ladder: such as under study, identified, or declared. By allowing the certification of farms in these areas, Bolsonaro ignored the existence of these stages, removing the protection these lands had against invaders, land grabbers, etc. Throughout his entire government, the former president also failed to homologate any territory. 

 At the end of January 2023, the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, signed an official document ordering the revocation of Bolsonaro's Funai measure, according to a report by Folha de S. Paulo. On the same day, contacted by Pública, the ministry's press office confirmed the order, but explained that the revocation depended on Funai itself, which should "sign in the coming days." More than two months later, Funai, headed by Joenia Wapichana, has still not published the revocation—which allows farms to continue being registered on these lands.

 Pública questioned Funai about why the instruction had not been overturned, whether there is a deadline for its revocation, and whether the certifications made over the past few years will be reviewed. The agency did not respond to the report by the time of publication.

 Indigenous lands in Mato Grosso do Sul are the most affected by farms.

 Of the 30 farms that obtained certification from Incra (National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform) on top of indigenous areas, 13 are in Mato Grosso do Sul. Together they occupy an area of ​​7,8 hectares and pass through six indigenous territories that are still awaiting official recognition.

 The Dourados-Amambaipeguá I land, home to the Guarani and Kaiowá peoples, is the most affected, with 2,7 hectares taken over by farm registrations. The area has a bloody history of conflict: in 2016, it was the scene of an attack by farmers and gunmen known as the Caarapó Massacre, when the 23-year-old indigenous health worker Clodiodi Aquileu was murdered. Six other indigenous people, including a child, were shot and seriously injured. Many still carry the bullets lodged in their bodies today. The attack was a response from the farmers to the retaking of a farm in the area claimed by the indigenous people.

 According to Pública's investigation, the Jaguari farm has the largest area within the Dourados-Amambaipeguá territory, occupying more than 1,5 hectares (equivalent to ten times the area of ​​Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo). According to Incra records, it was submitted to the federal system in 2021 — after Bolsonaro's Funai removed protection from indigenous lands. After several requests for rectification and subdivision of the land, the farm was finally certified on the second day of January of this year.

 One of the survivors of the Caarapó Massacre, Simão Kaiowá, reports that dozens of farmers continue to occupy the region. “They are small producers who constantly pressure their relatives to lease the land. And then the relatives who aren't involved in the struggle end up accepting. Of the nine reclaimed lands, only three don't have leases,” he explains.

 As coordinator of Aty Guasu, the General Assembly of the Kaiowá and Guarani people, and a member of the coordination of the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), Simão has been negotiating in Brasília the advancement of the demarcation of several indigenous lands around Dourados, a region with a history of violence against traditional peoples. The Dourados-Amambaipeguá I demarcation is currently in the phase of responding to objections presented to Funai (National Indian Foundation), a process he hopes will be finalized in the coming months.

 In addition to Mato Grosso do Sul, the report found farms that were certified on indigenous lands in 2023 in the states of Paraná, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina, Pará, and Rio Grande do Sul.

 A farming group from São Paulo certified farms in an area claimed by indigenous people in Mato Grosso.

 Surrounded by soy plantations in the municipality of Brasnorte, in northwestern Mato Grosso, the Menku Indigenous Territory has been taken over by farms since Bolsonaro's Funai (National Indian Foundation) authorized the registration of private properties. In 2020, Pública showed that there were 142 farms within the area disputed by the Myky, covering almost the entire indigenous land.

 At the end of the Bolsonaro administration, the indigenous land lost even more protection: in November of last year, the then Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres, disapproved of the land's identification, which had been forwarded by Funai (National Indian Foundation). This decision is unprecedented, as the ministry's usual practice has always been to approve the identification, making the land "declared," or to send it back to Funai for further investigation. With Torres's action, justified by the "decadence of the possibility" of reviewing the first demarcation, the process would have to start from scratch. In practice, Torres's stroke of the pen removed the Myky land from the map – in the analogy of the demarcation process, it was knocked off the ladder.

 Torres' decision is seen as "a victory for the farmers" by the Tupy Myky indigenous leadership. "Since 2020, we have suffered pressure, prejudice, [questioning] against the expansion of our land. For the farmers, everything has returned to normal; today they can take out bank loans, expand their farmland, improve or deforest areas, or implement management plans," they state. The Myky are requesting a meeting with the current Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, to reverse the decision. The Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), which advises the indigenous people in the process, has filed an appeal against the decision and hopes it will be overturned.

Following the signing of the decree, even more farms were certified in the area this year, already during Lula's government. Pública found that seven properties were certified in just the first three months of 2023. Together, they cover 12,5 hectares, about 9% of the area that the indigenous people are trying to demarcate. 

Three farms are the main ones occupying Myky land: Chapadão, Santa Lúcia, and Siqueira. Together, they have 11,7 hectares registered within the indigenous area. Pública discovered that all of them were transferred to the name of Siqueira Empreendimentos e Participações in 2023 in the Incra system.

The firm, which has a registered capital of over R$ 233 million, manages large agribusiness companies. Within the group is Cantagalo General Grains, which produces commodities such as soybeans and corn. Siqueira Empreendimentos e Participações is registered in São Paulo, in a prime office area near the Vila Olímpia neighborhood.

The news outlet attempted to contact the company by phone and email, but has not yet received a response.

Part of the Menku land has been officially recognized since 1987, but the process has been challenged by the Myky people, who have been waiting for years for a restudy that could add another 146 hectares to the territory, which currently covers 47 hectares — it is in this area that the farms certified in 2023 are located.

 Bolsonaro's Funai measure was celebrated by rural landowners and criticized by indigenous people.

 At the time of its publication, in April 2020, Normative Instruction No. 9 was celebrated by the then president of Funai, Marcelo Xavier, and by the ruralist Nabhan Garcia, who was the special secretary for Land Affairs in the government. The regulation was published in the same week that the then Minister of the Environment, Ricardo Salles (now a federal deputy for PL-SP), spoke of taking advantage of the pandemic to "let the cattle through".

 Following the instruction, farms were able to be certified and registered on top of indigenous lands not yet officially recognized in the federal Land Management System (Sigef). Land certification and registration is an important step for farmers to obtain rural financing, apply for environmental permits, or subdivide and parcel out the area, since registration attests that the farm does not encroach on indigenous territory.

 In addition to the Indigenous Peoples Working Group of the Transition Cabinet, the repeal of the regulation has been advocated since its publication by organizations such as the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), the Indigenists Associated (INA), the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), the Socio-environmental Institute (ISA), and the Tanaloa Institute.

 Two reports by Pública have already investigated the effects of certifications authorized by Funai's instruction in different indigenous lands around the country. 

 In May 2020, we revealed that the Bolsonaro government had certified 42 farms irregularly, even before the regulation was published. After the instruction came into effect, there was a boom: in less than 30 days, 72 new farms were certified. In total, the farms certified up to that point occupied 250 hectares of 12 indigenous lands, inhabited by ten ethnic groups. The most affected territories were in Maranhão. 

 At the time, indigenous leaders interviewed for this report indicated that the measure would lead to an increase in conflicts in the countryside. This prediction was confirmed in subsequent years, according to the 2020 and 2021 reports "Violence Against Indigenous Peoples in Brazil," published by CIMI, which recorded increases in cases of property violence, invasions, and violence against indigenous people.

 In July of last year, a new report by Pública revealed that 239 hectares of 415 farms were certified within indigenous lands—the equivalent of twice the size of the municipality of Rio de Janeiro. Some of them were 100% located within indigenous areas. The most affected state—with 138 hectares of farms—continued to be Maranhão.

 Shortly after the publication of Funai's instruction, members of the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (MPF) in various parts of the country began to mobilize against the measure. By the time this report was published last year, 29 lawsuits had been filed in 15 states. Between judgments and preliminary injunctions, the measure had been overturned in 13 states. Despite this, numerous certifications made based on the instruction remained valid.

 Interviewed by Pública in July 2022, federal prosecutor Ricardo Pael, the first to file a public civil action to overturn the regulation, spoke about the effects of the measure. “There was a significant increase in invasions of indigenous lands, and this was a more tangible and immediate harm to indigenous peoples. It ended up being a major incentive for invasions and for the increase in illegal exploitation, both logging and mining,” he pointed out.

 Approaching its 100th day in office, Lula's government has yet to overturn some of Bolsonaro's measures.

 The instruction that allowed the certification of farms on indigenous lands is not the only Bolsonaro-era measure that remains in place under Lula's government, contradicting the recommendation for immediate revocation made by the indigenous peoples' working group.

 Last month, a report by O Joio e o Trigo showed that Joint Normative Instruction No. 1, issued in February 2021 by Funai and Ibama, remains valid. The regulation allows agricultural and livestock farming within indigenous lands in partnership with non-indigenous people. The maintenance of the regulation was criticized by organizations such as Apib and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (Coiab) in statements. The federal government pledged this week to revoke the measure.

 Also still in effect are Decree 10.965/2022, which created the automatic licensing of mining exploitation—and which affects indigenous lands—and Opinion 001/2017, from the Attorney General's Office (AGU) during the Michel Temer (MDB) government, which accepted the temporal framework thesis. The opinion is currently suspended by the Supreme Federal Court (STF), awaiting the judgment of the temporal framework case, scheduled to take place in the coming months.

 Another priority recommendation from the working group to the Transition Government, the homologation of 13 indigenous lands within the first 30 days of government, has also not yet occurred. In an interview with the TV Cultura program Roda Viva, Minister Sonia Guajajara stated that the homologations would be signed “within the first 100 days.” The date marking the 100 days is next Monday, April 10th.

 On the other hand, in January, the Lula government revoked Joint Normative Instruction No. 12, from October 2022, issued by Funai and Ibama, which regulated timber exploitation on indigenous lands. Decree 10.966/2022, which established the Program to Support the Development of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining and the Interministerial Commission for the Development of Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining, was also revoked. At the time, the decree was questioned by parliamentarians and pointed out as a measure to favor illegal miners in the Legal Amazon. In the first week of April, Funai also revoked a resolution that defined "heteroidentification criteria" to evaluate the self-declaration of identity of indigenous peoples.