Brazilian indigenous leaders denounce Bolsonaro before UN speech

[Judi Lynn]

Open letter decries ‘colonialist and ethnocidal policies’
President expected to attack left and foreign critics in New York

Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent

Mon 23 Sep 2019 10.38 EDT

Indigenous leaders in Brazil have denounced Jair Bolsonaro’s “colonialist and ethnocidal” policies as the far-right populist headed to New York to defend his treatment of the Amazon and its inhabitants.

Bolsonaro is set to make the opening speech at the UN general assembly on Tuesday morning after a wretched few weeks for Brazil’s international reputation in which reports of soaring deforestation and his response to the Amazon fires have cemented his reputation as South America’s “Captain Chainsaw”.

Brazil’s president is expected to use his UN debut to launch a Trumpian assault on the left and push back against foreign criticism of his treatment of Brazil’s environment and indigenous communities. He has recruited a rare pro-Bolsonaro indigenous voice, Ysani Kalapalo, to travel with him to New York in an effort to soften his notoriety as a rainforest destroyer.

But in a strongly worded open letter, 16 indigenous leaders from Brazil’s Xingu indigenous park spurned Bolsonaro’s “colonialist and ethnocidal” programme for their communities, which he has pledged to open for commercial exploitation.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/23/jair-bolsonaro-un-brazilian-indigenous-leaders