The president (PT) arrived early Friday afternoon (4) to the village Piaraçu, in the Indigenous Land (IT) Capoto/Jarina, in, for a meeting with the chief. Raoni is the best known and respected indigenous leader in the country and was one of eight Brazilians who climbed the Planalto Palace ramp at.
At the beginning of the visit, Lula and Raoni held a private meeting. Around 1:30 pm, the president awarded Cacique Raoni with the Grand Cross of the National Order of Merit, granted to Brazilian citizens for prominent services provided to the country. In return, Lula was offered a necklace made of shells, used by the indigenous Kayapós on celebrations.
“It is a historic meeting that marks the meeting of two great global leaders,” said Sonia Guajajara, Minister of Indigenous Peoples. “Today, President Lula comes up the ramp in the land of Cacique Raoni.”
In addition to Sonia, they followed the visit to the first lady, Janja, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, the Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, Carlos Fávaro, the Minister of Human Rights and Citizenship, Macaé Evaristo, the Minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Paulo Teixeira, and the Minister of Culture, Margareth Menezes. Joenia Wapichana, president of Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples), was also at the meeting.
Raoni said Lula made the visit after personally received three invitations from the chief himself. “Three times I met him. He said he would come, and it didn’t come. But now he’s here,” he said.
In a speech, the leader charged Lula so that oil exploration is not made. “The Lord is thinking of the oil that is under the sea, but I think I don’t [deve ser assim]. These things, as they are, guarantee that we have the environment and the earth with less pollution and less warming. We may have very great consequences if we do not stop, “he said in Kayapó language.
The chief also asked Lula to think of a successor aligned with the indigenous cause. “I don’t want us to get in contradiction, but we do a job that benefits the indigenous peoples of Brazil. I made a charge so that it [Lula] Do not repeat errors you have already done in the previous management. President, going forward, we will work right, so that people are happy with our work, “he said.
The indigenous leader also said that in conversation with Lula, he asked to revise the boundaries of the surroundings of Ti Capoto/Jarina. “I am charging for him to clean, a new limit, so that our children and grandchildren can enjoy this land,” he concluded.
Lula, in his speech, praised Raoni’s leadership. “I’ve traveled a lot around the world, I’ve met the most important presidents on the planet, but none of these people I’ve found, or palaces I’ve visited, is more important than the visit I am making to the indigenous peoples of Xingu,” he said.
“There is no man on earth, no president, no more representative king than Raoni. He is a leadership that inspires peace, ancestral wisdom and deep knowledge about the needs of the earth and the relationship of man with nature. Therefore, it attracts attention and appreciation of so many people. Anonymous, intellectuals, national and international celebrities,” he added.
According to the president, the visit served for honors, but also to hear demands from the indigenous people. “Without the protection of indigenous peoples, the protection of forests and rivers, the climate crisis would bring even more extreme, drought and flooding events to the entire Brazilian population, without exception,” he said.
Lula also stated that indigenous rights are government priority. “You are fundamental to reach the goal of zeroing deforestation in the Amazon by 2030.”
The event included the presence of other leaders of the Xingu River basin. The departure of the president and the accompanying group should take place at 7:50 pm, towards São Paulo.
the indigenous people planned to deliver a letter to Lula to the event with a series of demands related to the protection of the region. The articulation was signed by 48 indigenous and riverside communities, and five civil society organizations operating in the Xingu Basin region.
Ti Capoto/Jarina is a reference in the fight against deforestation and contrasts with surroundings dominated by illegal mining and agricultural production. Official data show that only 0.15% of the territory was deforested between 2008 and 2024.
However, the rest of the state had about 33,000 km² of areas degraded from January to October 2024, according to the IMAZON (Institute of Man and Environment of the Amazon). The value represents an increase of 187% compared to the same period in 2017, the last peak of degradation.
The letter also cites the forest fires. From 2023 to 2024, the increase in burning in the Xingu Basin was 353%. In Xingu’s indigenous territory, specifically, the increase was 124%, while Kayapó Indigenous Land suffered from 1,886% in Fire Lost Forests.
During the first term of the petista, in 2003, Raoni advocated against the construction of the time in the planning phase. The plant was inaugurated in 2011, already in the term of Dilma Rousseff (PT).
In a latest episode, in 2023, the chief invited Lula to the event called Cacique Raoni, who brought together more than 700 people in the Piaraçu village to discuss.
The president had just performed hip surgery and did not attend, sending the minister of indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara. In the same week, however, Lula went to the party of Senator Randolfe Rodrigues (without party) in Brasilia.
In interviews, Raoni has criticized government projects. In recent speech to the AFP agency, the chief said that allowing oil to exploit the would be “repeating mistakes of the past”, referring to Belo Monte, and positioned himself against the project of exploration of the Foz do Amazonas basin. The construction of –Ferrovia that will connect Sinop (MT) to Miritituba (MT) – is also one of its concerns.
In September 2024, Raoni told the Sheet That “many things have improved” for the indigenous people and the environment with the exchange of Bolsonaro for Lula, although petista management still needs to advance the demarcation of indigenous lands.
In October last year, the indigenous leader went to Brasilia in one, without a previously marked agenda. At the time, he waited for about 20 minutes in the Planalto lobby before confirming that the meeting would not happen.
Trajectory
Born in the 1930s (the exact date is not known) in the village Krajmopyjakare, in northeastern Mato Grosso, Raoni Metuktire spent years living as nomad with the indigenous Kayapós. He had the first contact with the Portuguese language in 1954 and since then is activist for the protection of forests and indigenous ways of life.
In 1984, the chief obtained the demarcation of 15 km of indigenous lands in negotiation with then interior minister, Mario Andreazza. He also participated in the 1988 Constituent Assembly, leading dozens of Kayapós to Brasilia to press through a constitution that protected the original peoples.
It has already received titles such as an honorary member of the International Union for Nature Conservation (UICN) in 2021 and a knight of the France’s Legion of Honor in 2025. He was also nominated for the Nobel Peace in 2020.
Hollywood visit
Later this week, the chief received a visit from American actress Angelina Jolie. She traveled to the village last Wednesday (2), with the support of the environmental organization Re: Wild, founded by scientists and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Images published by a fan club show Jolie next to the chief.
The official reason for the presence of the film star and social activist in the village was not disclosed.
