Bolsonaro’s Decree curbs FUNAI’S capacities and “practically ends the institution”

Decree 11.226, signed by Jair Bolsonaro (PL), excluded FUNAI’S (Brazilian Indigenous peoples agency) the Regional Committees and their instances such as the Ethnoenvironmental Protection Fronts and Local Technical Coordinations, provided for in the 2017 Statute.

Civil society organizations and indigenous rights advocates showed concern and warned that “the new statute and changes in the staff of the National Indian Foundation should make the demarcation of indigenous lands unviable and reduce the agency’s autonomy in the construction and application of public policies.”

“Bolsonaro promised to give Funai a whack, remember? First he cut the members, and now, with this decree, he cuts off the head of the institution. It practically ends with the institution,” said Antonio Eduardo Cerqueira de Oliveira, executive secretary of the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), to InfoAmazônia.