1500 Indigenous Native Brazilians Occupy the Capital

The proposed amendments to the Constitution (PECs) include numbers 038/99, 215/00 and 237/13, Bill 1610/96, the bill for Complementary Law (PLP) 227/12, and the Portarias (ministerial orders) 419/11 and 7957/13. A summary of the bills was circulated via the support communities on social media for Chief Raoni:

• PEC 38 would give the Senate power to approve processes of demarcation of Indigenous lands, determining that “the demarcation of Indigenous lands or units of environmental conservation respect the maximum limit of 30% of the surface area of each state”;
• PEC 215 gives Congress exclusive authority to decide the boundaries of all Indigenous lands;
• PEC 237 permits the possession of Indigenous lands by rural producers;
• PLP 227 limits federal lands that can be used for demarcation;
• Portaria 419 intends to streamline the licensing of public projects by means of the reduction of Indigenous rights, of the rights of traditional communities and of the environment;
• Portaria 7957 creates the Environmental Operations Company of the National Force of Public Security to permit the use of military force against Indigenous Peoples who oppose the large-scale projects of the PAC (Program for Acceleration of Growth), especially hydroelectric dams;
• PL 1610, allows mining in Indigenous lands.

The protestors, composed of more than one hundred ethnicities, attempted to enter the National Congress but were met with pepper spray by the police.