In the early hours of this Friday (14th), protests by the Munduruku indigenous people occupied the Blue Zone, the diplomatic hub of the United Nations Climate Change Summit in Belém, cutting off access. Around 1 p.m., a large line formed as participants tried to enter the conference.
Indigenous Affairs Minister Sonia Guajajara received a phone call from President Lula, concerned about new demonstrations. Environment Minister Marina Silva said the president called for dialogue with member states.
The United Nations criticized COP30 organizers on Thursday (13th) for failing infrastructure and deteriorating security, in addition to demanding a resolution after the Baixo Tapajos indigenous people nearly succeeded in invading the Blue Zone and caused violence in the designated area on Tuesday (11th).
Following Lula’s call, both ministers and COP30 President Ambassador Andre Correa de Lago canceled their scheduled meetings with the Mundurukus. In the afternoon, he also met with representatives of other Baixo Tapajos indigenous groups.
Minister Marina Silva said it was necessary to report to the president what was discussed. During the afternoon meeting, she repeatedly told participants that Lula was concerned about indigenous peoples in order to appease them.
“I want to know why he signed the privatization of the Tapajos River back then,” said one attendee. The main demand of indigenous peoples is the repeal of Decree 12,600/2025, which established a national waterways plan and included the Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins rivers as priority axes for cargo navigation.
Unable to respond, Marina said he would take the matter to other ministries and promised a response.
The Ministers of the Environment and Indigenous Peoples were unable to offer immediate solutions, but spoke at length about how the COP30 process would work and how indigenous peoples could find different ways to present their demands other than the closure of Blue Zones.
Marina explained that because the COP is global rather than local, the agenda to be discussed in the Blue Zones does not include the demands of the Baixo Tapajos indigenous people, such as the cancellation of the Ferrogran project, a waterway and a railway that agribusinesses want to transport produce from the western part of the Center to the state of Pará. She also said that despite the problems, the government has managed to reduce deforestation.
Guajajara pointed out that while the United Nations Climate Change Conference was not really created for indigenous peoples, COP30 had a record number of indigenous peoples participating compared to other summits, and governments were making incremental progress.
The minister also said that three representatives from Baixo Tapajós have been recognized as Blue Zones, and they can incorporate the requests of other representatives into this area. Another option is to use a space created for this purpose called Aldeia COP, he said. The location is a camp set up within the UFPA Applied School (Federal University of Pará).
“We’re waiting for them to talk to Lula,” indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku said. “It’s mainly about the[waterways]legislation and ferrogran, because this will cost us a lot. But being here with the ministers and the COP president is already a step forward.” In response, Tapajos leaders said they would wait for the ministers’ promised response.
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