The COVID-19 pandemic intensified resource conflicts and indigenous resistance in Brazil

Mary Menton, Felipe Milanez, et al. / World Development Journal

15-11-20

Highlights

• A history of territorial struggles strengthened the ability of some groups of indigenous peoples in Brazil to combat COVID-19.
• Indigenous led self-protection and resistance counter government ‘politics of extermination’ and ‘genocide by omission’.
• Strategies included: self-isolation and blockades, social media campaigns and fundraising, and court cases against the government.
• Despite violence and repression, the indigenous movement has grown and is better positioned to fight the pandemic than it was a decade ago.