Brazil Chief Raoni Says Will Challenge Lula On Amazon Oil Project: AFP Interview

Brazilian environmental campaigner and tribal leader Raoni Metuktire is pitting himself against the government to stop plans for an oil mega-project at the mouth of the Amazon river.

Ahead of Brazil hosting the UN's COP30 climate talks in the Amazonian city of Belem in November, Raoni has told AFP he will soon receive President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on his home turf, in the world's biggest rainforest, to urge him to put a halt to the undertaking by state-owned oil giant Petrobras.

Brazil's environmental protection agency IBAMA -- an autonomous public body -- is mulling whether to grant Petrobras an exploration license in an offshore area known as the Equatorial Margin.

Despite seeking to make Brazil a leader in the fight against global warming, Lula backs oil exploration as key to growth in Latin America's biggest economy.

Raoni, the leader of the Kayapo people, rose to fame in the 1980s campaigning against deforestation with English singer Sting.

His exact age unknown, but believed to be about 90, Raoni has fought tirelessly ever since for Indigenous people threatened by forest destruction.

Instantly recognizable for the large wooden plate in his lower lip -- Raoni has repeatedly been mentioned for a Nobel Peace Prize.

He gave a rare interview to AFP last week, under embargo, at his Raoni Institute for Indigenous people's rights in the jungle city of Peixoto de Azevedo several hours from his small village of Metuktire on the banks of the Xingu River.

Raoni is expected to host Lula in early April, according to his entourage and local authorities. The national government has not confirmed a meeting.

The chief's responses to AFP questions were translated from Roani's Kayapo language into Portuguese.

Q: What is your message for the COP30?

A: At COP30 we will have the opportunity to meet with several heads of state in search of an agreement and a document to combat climate change. I will speak with them to ensure they work to avoid a bigger problem in the future.

Our creator watches over us.

There are people who think about destroying nature, the rivers. As humans, we have a unique origin and must live in harmony, protect nature for the well-being of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

Q: Has Lula succeeded in making Brazil a beacon in the fight against climate change?

A: We talked when he (Lula) was sworn in. I asked him not to repeat what he did in the past, when he built the Belo Monte dam (in the northeastern state of Para, with a significant environmental impact) without consulting us.

Now Lula will come to my land, and we will address the demarcation of the Indigenous territories of our relatives who have not yet obtained (their own protected reservations).

Q: What do you think of the project to explore for oil in the Equatorial Margin?

A: I am already informed about that and I will have the opportunity to sit down with Lula to talk about the issue. I will ask him not to encourage that oil exploitation project in the Amazon.

Q: How has the life of your people been transformed by environmental damage?

A: There is increasingly more deforestation, river pollution, periods of rain that flood everything and kill the plants that provide food. We are all increasingly affected.

Q: The consequences of climate change are also being felt in large cities such as Porto Alegre, which experienced historic flooding last year. What is the message there?

A: I ask non-Indigenous people to see what is happening, the consequences of the destruction of nature. I had a dream: the creator will do a cleansing with the blood spilled on our land.

It may happen that a major flood covers the whole planet for that cleansing. Non-Indigenous people should think like us to maintain climate balance and survive together.

Q: You reported far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro, a climate change denier, to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Do you worry that his political profile remains high in Brazil?

A: Bolsonaro has a problem in his head. He does not think correctly nor is he a good person with a humanitarian outlook. I saw the news that he might go to prison and I fully support that possibility.