Sawt Falasteen - Brazil's Chief Raoni backs Lula in elections

Now in his nineties, the Indigenous leader who has spent decades rallying the world to protect the rainforest has forged close ties with the president, known widely as Lula.

At the start of Lula's third term, Raoni -- instantly recognizable with his large wooden lip plate -- walked alongside him up the ramp of the presidential palace for his inauguration.

"I am going to support him," in October, Raoni told AFP in the Kayapo language through an interpreter on the sidelines of a gathering of Indigenous people in Brasilia.

The Kayapo chief last year said he was prepared to give the president a "talking-to" if he ignored concerns over oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon River.

He demanded the veteran leftist "listen to us...he must respect us."

Lula is seeking a fourth term in October and his main rival is Flavio Bolsonaro, son of the far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro whose government froze land demarcations -- official recognition of Indigenous land -- and facilitated deforestation in the Amazon.

Lula "has already demarcated some Indigenous lands, so I support him so that he may continue to be president," said Raoni.

Since 2023, Lula has approved the official demarcation of some 20 territories for the exclusive use of Indigenous communities, and has overseen a dramatic decline in deforestation in the Amazon.

Nevertheless, he has come under increasing pressure to do more from Indigenous groups who are protesting in Brasilia this week to demand the protection of more of their ancestral lands.

In recent months Indigenous groups have also protested the expansion of ports for grain transport along Amazon rivers, as well as plans to build a railway line through the world's largest forest.

"You non-Indigenous people harbor this destructive mindset of destroying nature and polluting rivers, which is what causes this climate crisis," said Raoni.

"This harms all of us in Brazil. It is not only Indigenous people who will feel the effects of climate change."

M.AlAhmad--SF-PST