Marcelo Camargo/ABr
Marcelo Camargo/ABr
Part of the Indigenous Lands already approved in Espírito Santo are also under threat due to the decision published this Monday (22) by Minister Gilmar Mendes, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), suspending the processing of actions that question the constitutionality of Law No. 14,701 , approved by the National Congress last September. “The Temporal Framework threatens our Guarani village”, says Rodrigo Guarani, deputy chief of Aldeia Piraquê-açú, in Santa Cruz, Aracruz, in the north of the state. In the Tupinikim territory, there are also areas that are fragile.
“We have some farmers in litigation, who have not yet left our territory and are taking legal action”, informed Aracruz councilor Vilson Jaguareté (PT), when the STF concluded the vote on the Marco Temporal thesis, based on an action filed by the government of Santa Catarina against the Xokleng indigenous territory.
In the municipality of Espírito Santo, there are also threats from the multinational Suzano (formerly Fibria and former Aracruz Celulose), one of the greatest historical enemies of indigenous peoples. “In relation to the Suzano company, it was also a concern, because the Marco Temporal would annul some territories that were under its possession when they were demarcated”, he adds. “Thank God, for now, it’s resolved”, reaffirmed Jaguareté, at the time. Now, with this stance from Gilmar Mendes, the threat returns.
The subject has been addressed by national and regional indigenous organizations and is the agenda of Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL), which is holding its 20th edition this week in Brasília, with the motto “Our landmark is ancestral. We have always been here”. The activities take place until next Saturday (27).
“Minister Gilmar Mendes made an arbitrary decision, partially rejecting the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality [ADI nº 7582] filed by Apib [Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil]”, he said this Tuesday (23), to Brazil Agency (ABr), Kleber Karipuna, one of Apib’s executive coordinators, when referring to the action that the indigenous entity filed with the STF in December last year.
Marcelo Camargo/ABr
In the action, Apib, Psol and Rede Sustentabilidade ask the Court to declare the unconstitutionality of Law No. 14,701, approved by the National Congress also in September 2023, a week after the Supreme Court considered it unconstitutional to limit the right of indigenous communities to exclusive enjoyment of lands traditionally occupied by its peoples depending on the date on which the Federal Constitution came into force.
Based on this first Court decision, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva partially vetoed the law. In December, however, the National Congress overturned the presidential veto.
In addition to ADI 7582, at least three other lawsuits relating to the effects of the law and the Temporal Framework are being processed by the STF: ADI 7583, presented by PT, PCdoB and PV, and ADI 7586, by PDT, which ask the Court to reaffirm that the legal thesis is not compatible with the constitutional protection of the rights of indigenous peoples. In the Constitutionality Declaratory Action (ADC) 87, Progressives, Republicans and Liberals ask for the law to be validated. Minister Gilmar Mendes is the rapporteur of the processes.
In this Monday’s decision, the minister argued that, upon preliminarily analyzing Law 14,701, he found that, apparently, several aspects “can be read in a contrary sense to the initial understanding” of the STF Plenary.
“However, while the Court has not concluded the meritorious assessment of such actions, I am extremely concerned about the possibility that the persistence of apparently contradictory signs could generate a situation of severe legal uncertainty. Along these lines, I consider it necessary to grant a precautionary measure to determine the immediate suspension of all legal proceedings that discuss, within the scope of other bodies of the Judiciary, the constitutionality of Law 14,701/2023, while this Supreme Court promotes the due assessment of the conformity of said rule with the Constitution”.
“We woke up with [uma decisão] in which a Supreme Court minister confirms [autoriza] the continuity of the death of the indigenous people. Because that’s it. The Temporal Framework, Law 14,701, [autoriza] the continued murder of our people. There are reinstatements of [terras ocupadas por indígenas] already in force, threatening our people”, declared the executive coordinator of Apib, Alberto Terena, on the occasion of the solemn session held at the National Congress in honor of the 20th anniversary of Camp Terra Livre.
Lula Marques/ABr
Letter to the Three Powers
The ATL participants also delivered a letter to the representatives of the Three Powers (Executive, Legislative and Judiciary), with 25 “demands and urgencies” of the original Brazilian peoples. Of the 25 demands, 19 are addressed to the government; three to the National Congress, and another three to the Judiciary. The first of the 25 items is a charge to the federal government: the immediate completion of the demarcation process of four indigenous lands whose declaratory ordinances have already been issued by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, that is, which, legally, are ready to be approved: Morro dos Cavalos (SC), Toldo Imbu (SC), Xucuru Kariri (AL) and Potiguara de Monte-Mor (PB).
To the Judiciary, one of the referrals is the “Immediate declaration of the unconstitutionality of Law no. 14,701/2023 by the STF, to contain violence against indigenous peoples, reaffirming the Original Law and definitively excluding the application of the Temporal Framework thesis, in line with with the decision of the judgment of Extraordinary Appeal 1,017,365”.
The thesis
According to the Marco Temporal thesis, indigenous people only have the right to lands that were in their possession on October 5, 1988, the date of promulgation of the Federal Constitution, or that were under legal dispute at the time, therefore disregarding the entire process of expulsion of indigenous people from their lands, promoted by agribusiness, including cellulose in Espírito Santo, whose largest company in the sector, then Aracruz Celulose (formerly Fibria, now Suzano), carried out arrests and torture of indigenous people and quilombolas with complicity of the military dictatorship.
