The Brazilian government has recently overturned a decision from President Michel Temer to open up a section of the Amazon to private mining and infrastructural companies. The Renca (an acronym for National Reserve of Copper and Associates) is a reservation about the size of Switzerland and was put into place during the Brazilian military dictatorship in order to stave off foreign interest in the many minerals that the 17,800 square miles hold. The dictatorship ended in the mid 1980s and the Amazon has since been subject to ever-expanding private interests. In an unpopular decision, President Temer announced this past August a plan to lift the reservation status in the coming months, much to the disdain of environmental advocates like Greenpeace, the Catholic church, and anthropologists, as there are uncontacted tribes who live within the designated area. Temer’s proposal was struck down by the Brazilian congress; however, the tight connections between the president and his cabinet and multiple oil and mining companies are still cause for future concern. At the present moment there are a number of illegal mining operations already underway within the Renca, so the battle is far from over.
I thought this article could highlight not only a bit of the treatment of indigenous tribes on the part of the Brazilian government, but also Western European attitudes toward the natural world and what it has to offer. I believe this could open up discussion to how the conquistadores viewed what the Amazon could offer them, and how they were willing to forgo the well-being of the natives to obtain it.
Other areas of discussion could include national sentiment toward the dictatorship of the past, disparities between the president and the rest of Brazil’s government, and division among the Brazilian population in opinion of President Temer.