Early Friday morning (Nov. 14), dozens of Munduruku from villages near the towns of Itaituba and Jacareacanga, both also in host state Pará, gathered outside the locked gates of the COP30 Blue Zone in Belém to protest.
The protest blocked access to the United Nations climate conference’s main pavilion for about four hours. After COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago arrived and negotiated with the Munduruku delegation, the entrance reopened around 9:30 a.m. Indigenous leaders requested urgent talks with President Lula, declaring they would not leave until they got a meeting with authorities.
The Munduruku’s protest targeted Brazil’s federal government, which they accuse of permitting the advancement of large-scale projects without free, prior, and informed consultation with Indigenous communities. They oppose new waterways, private ports, carbon credit initiatives, agribusiness, and the Ferrogrão railroad—a $3.8 billion (R$20 billion) project connecting grain-producing municipalities in Brazil’s heartland of Mato Grosso to river cargo terminals in Pará, from where it can reach Brazil’s Atlantic coast.
Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, the COP30 president, and executive director Ana Toni arrived at the scene around 8:30 a.m. to negotiate with the protesters.
They spoke with activists Maria Leusa Kaba Munduruku and Alessandra Korap Munduruku, and other leaders. At one point, Lago cradled Maria Leusa’s youngest son.
After a brief exchange, COP officials and the Munduruku delegation moved to a private area for further negotiations. Within minutes, protesters lifted the blockade at the Blue Zone entrance.
Dozens of people gathered in front of the Blue Zone during the Munduruku protest (Photo: Fernando Martinho/Repórter Brasil).
ASSINE NOSSA NEWSLETTER
document.addEventListener(“DOMContentLoaded”, function() {
document.querySelectorAll(‘.form-news button[type=”submit”]’).forEach(function(botao) {
botao.classList.add(“envio_newsletter_materia”);
});
});
Submit
‘Our forest is not for sale’
Today’s demonstration was organized by the Munduruku Ipereg Ayu Mov