The Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sônia Guajajara (PSOL), will leave her position this week to run for re-election as federal deputy for São Paulo. The departure will be made official in a ceremony scheduled for Tuesday (31), at Esplanada dos Ministérios, in Brasília.
Guajajara has led the department since its creation, in 2023, at the beginning of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s (PT) third term. The Ministry was established to centralize territorial demarcation policies and protection of indigenous rights, meeting a historical demand from original peoples.
During her tenure, the minister participated in the ratification of 20 indigenous territories and worked in responding to the humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami region, marked by the spread of illegal mining in the Amazon. The action took place in a scenario of political restrictions, with resistance in Congress to agendas related to the expansion of indigenous rights.
Before assuming the Ministry, Guajajara built a trajectory in the indigenous movement, with emphasis on the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (Apib), where she served as executive coordinator. In 2018, she was a candidate for vice president on the Guilherme Boulos (PSOL-SP) ticket.
Elected in 2022, she became the first indigenous deputy for São Paulo, with more than 156 thousand votes. His departure from the Ministry marks his return to electoral competition after three years in the Executive, a period in which his work was concentrated on structuring the department and interacting with indigenous communities in different regions of the country.
