Why the most indigenous states in Brazil do not elect indigenous people focused on the environmental cause

In the last elections, the residents of Parque das Tribos, the first indigenous neighborhood in Manaus, were able to vote for the first time in the community itself. The site was opened in 2014 and since then the houses still have infrastructure problems. There are currently 5,000 people living in the place who speak the languages ​​of 20 ethnic groups.

The Tikuna couple Regina Mariano, 24, and Jeckson Pereira, 30, were accompanied by their six and two-year-old children in the first round. At the end of the section, Jeckson stated that the vote for federal deputy was for an indigenous person, but he was unaware that there was a “relative” in the race for the government of Amazonas (Israel Tuyuka, from the PSOL) and in other vacancies. “If I knew, I would vote. I didn’t.”

The children played with the saints thrown on the floor and spoke in the indigenous language, and it was possible to identify the name “Bolsonaro” in the conversation. Jeckson replied in Portuguese, with his eyes fixed on the faces of his children, that the president is very prejudiced against indigenous people.

The Tikuna family has been in Manaus for a few months and says they are looking for better living conditions. The father complains about the lack of opportunities for the indigenous people to have a dignified life without having to leave their places of origin. “For me, there is no proposal for the indigenous people,” he said.

The last election was a record for indigenous candidates. On the other hand, the states of the Amazon, with the largest indigenous population in Brazil, did not elect indigenous representatives who have an agenda for protecting the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples.

According to data from the TSE (Superior Electoral Court), across the country, there were 186 self-declared indigenous candidates. In 2018 and 2014, respectively, there were 133 and 85.

Of the seven self-declared indigenous people elected in Brazil, two work in environmental defense and indigenous rights, but were not elected by those who live in the Amazon. Célia Xakriabá was elected by the PSOL in Minas Gerais and Sonia Guajajara, who is from Maranhão, was elected by the PSOL in São Paulo.

The second indigenous federal deputy in the country’s history, Joenia Wapichana (Rede-RR), was not reelected — the first was Mário Juruna, elected by the PDT of Rio de Janeiro in 1982. The only indigenous woman elected to Congress with votes in the Amazon was Bolsonarista Silvia Waiãpi (PL), from Amapá.

A survey by Apib (Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil) shows that, of the 85 indigenous candidacies in the states of the Legal Amazon in 2022, 47 ran for right-wing and center parties and 38 for parties from the progressive camp.

Amazon voters gave most of their seats in the Chamber to center and right-wing parties: MDB, PL, União Brasil and Republicans were the most voted in the North region and in Mato Grosso. The MDB will occupy 17 of the 73 seats for federal deputy in these states. The advantage of the acronym came from Pará, which re-elected emedebista Helder Barbalho to the government.

The second place is divided between President Bolsonaro’s PL and União Brasil, with 15 Federals each.

PL and União Brasil were the ones that most elected senators in the Amazon. Two, each, which represents more than 50% of the vacancies.

These acronyms appear among those that acted, in votes in Congress, with greater force against the rights of native peoples, according to a survey carried out by Cimi (Indigenist Missionary Council) in September this year. The work analyzed votes between 2012 and 2021.

The absence of the environmental and indigenous agenda has resonance in the legislative assemblies elected in the Amazon. In the states of the North and in Mato Grosso, there are no state environmental parliamentary fronts.

The advantage of political and economic power of non-indigenous candidates was exposed in Parque das Tribos in the election. Walls and streets in the neighborhood displayed a campaign by non-indigenous people. The community, however, had two representatives in the dispute for federal deputy, chief Israel Munduruku (PDT) and indigenous nursing technician Vanda Witoto (Rede).

Israel Munduruku says that indigenous voters are different, they want to look them in the eye and make a commitment. He complains that the R$23,000 he received from the PDT did not allow him to travel to the villages in the interior of the Amazon.

Israel’s campaign material was delivered to him a few days before the end of the campaign and without the requested slogan: “A chief in politics.” To make matters worse, at the polls the name appeared with an error in the ethnicity: “Cacique Mungurukú”. Israel received 569 votes.

“A lack of respect. They should be happy to support an indigenous person. We think they will think like us, but they don’t. I’m sorry, but the PDT was the only party that let me be a candidate. I look for the PT, but the lists are always closed. In PSOL, they fight a lot”, said the chief.

The Tururukari-uka village, belonging to the Kambeba people, has also entered the route of non-indigenous candidates, a marathon that takes place every two years. One week before the first round, with tree leaves adorning the large maloca and dressed in traditional raw cotton clothes, the kambebas received yet another non-indigenous candidate behind the community’s 44 votes.

The village is 500 meters from the AM-070 highway, in the municipality of Manacapuru (70 km from Manaus). During the rainy season, the waters rise and make access to the site difficult. Indigenous people take advantage of the election to be heard by those who show up looking for votes. This time, building a bridge and improving the indigenous school were the priorities.

The kambebas of Manacapuru considered directing votes towards indigenous people, they told the report. During the campaign, however, they became discouraged. They claim that they were only sought out and were only able to present the village’s urgent claim to non-indigenous people.

“The relatives only sent a message and demanded our vote because [a gente] is indigenous. Wait, it’s not like that. We have our proposals to be presented”, argued indigenous leader Marlete Kambeba, 37.

“Today we know that voting makes a difference. Before, we did not have the understanding that we could bring improvements to the village through politics. In the old days, the politician came, put up a poster and we just shook our heads. Today they come to hear what we think”, he concluded.

Vanda Witoto, who ran for federal deputy for the Network, criticizes the logic of the barter vote imposed by the candidacies of whites in the villages.

“I am an indigenous woman, on a political path to fight for our rights. We do not go with the same weight or offer exchanges. In the election, we also take citizenship education”, said she, who received 25,545 votes, but was not elected by the Amazon.

The legal analyst of TRE-AM (Regional Electoral Court of Amazonas) Valber Nascimento, master in electoral law, addresses in his dissertation the obstacles to indigenous candidacies. As factors, he cites: the bureaucracy of the Brazilian electoral process, the logic of exercising power and the racism of non-indigenous people in relation to indigenous candidates.

The indigenous Gersem Baniwa, a doctor in social anthropology and professor at UnB (University of Brasília), believes, however, that there is another issue: due to the historical construction, the indigenous themselves prefer to vote for whites.

The anthropologist says that the prejudice in cities with indigenous identity, such as Manaus, reveals an “autoracism for not assuming their ancestry”. For him, for this reason, “the indigenous candidates made mistakes in choosing parties”. “Conservative non-indigenous people in Manaus will never vote for indigenous people. Progressive non-indigenous people vote,” he said.

_{This report was made with support from the Pulitzer Center.}