Without the participation of traditional and indigenous peoples, Bolsonaro and Elon Musk discuss projects for the Amazon

Ívina Garcia – From Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – An event held by the Ministry of Communications on Friday afternoon, 20, in São Paulo, was attended by businessman Elon Musk, owner of SpaceX and Tesla, and the President of the Republic, Jair Bolsonaro (PL), and discussed connectivity projects for the Amazon, but one thing drew attention: the lack of presence of indigenous leaders or representatives of traditional communities in the Amazon Region.

Surrounded by “Pariwat”, how the Munduruku indigenous people from Pará call “those who don’t belong here”, Elon answered questions from the audience, composed of students and businessmen, about investments and the use of SpaceX’s technology to monitor the Amazon. In Brazil, the work is currently done by the National Institute for Space Research (Inpe), linked to the federal government. The institute, which monitors deforestation and issues real-time alerts of the devastation of the biomes using satellites, has already been criticized by Bolsonaro.

Read more: Bolsonaro minimizes deforestation and says that Inpe’s alert is the ‘same old thing’

The press conference held in a luxury hotel in São Paulo, the Fasano, was disclosed by the Minister of Communications, Fábio Faria, on his twitter account, and by the folder’s official profile, which wrote that the “team to deal with the issue is a heavyweight”.

Official Agenda

Even being an event to officially address investments and the launch of actions for the Amazon, according to the Ministry of Communications, the meeting is not on the official agenda of the president. On Thursday’s live stream, Bolsonaro talked about a meeting with an “internationally recognized” person, without directly mentioning the billionaire. On the same night, Minister Fábio Faria shared that the president would be at the event.

The official channels of the Ministry of Communications, as well as Agência Brasil and the federal government’s website also have no information about the event promoted by the folder and entitled “Conecta Amazônia”. The only information shared about the meeting was made through the minister’s Twitter and the Ministry of Communications.

Freedom of speech

At the event, Elon Musk answered about the challenges of the next generations and said that although he does not like to talk about “the future being bright”, he still believes that people should remain optimistic about the technological evolution.

At the end of the businessmen and students’ questions, Bolsonaro thanked the billionaire for his presence and called Musk a “freedom myth”, referring to his purchase of Twitter, adding that Elon is a “breath of hope” and that he counts on the billionaire’s help “so that the Amazon is known by everyone, in Brazil and in the world”.

Jair Bolsonaro also said he wants to show the exuberance of the region, “how it is preserved by us, and the harm caused by those who spread lies about the region.”

Representativeness

The Bolsonaro government is known as the most lethal government for forests and indigenous lands. Several surveys have already been released showing that Jair’s environmental policies have been disastrous for the preservation of the Amazon.

For the environmentalist and master in Ecology Carlos Durigan, the meeting, in fact, was used as an electoral platform. “I see this mobilization as an electoral marketing move. The monitoring of the Amazon is already very well done and coordinated by Inpe and other research institutions and universities, and even by NGOs. In fact, what this monitoring has shown is that the social and environmental degradation in the region has only increased in the last years”, he pointed out.

To CENARIUM, he stressed the importance of the discussion about technological advances and expansion of digital frontiers, but said that public consultation is essential. “It is important to discuss infrastructure and communication improvements throughout the region; efforts already exist in this direction, but it is worrying that commitments are established and decisions are made without the participation of society,” he said.

Integration and valorization of the peoples

The secretary-general of the National Council of Extractivist Populations (CNS), Dione Torquato, said that investments will always be welcome in the Amazon, especially to bring accessibility to native peoples, but the scenario cannot be discussed without the populations that will be directly affected.

“Naturally, if there was a clear intention of connection, integration and valorization of these peoples, they would go to the Amazon and not to São Paulo. But on the other hand we understand that the event takes place in São Paulo, because it is one of the regions that Starlink has already been operating. It makes sense in this respect, but we can’t discuss a connection for the youth and the Amazon without the Amazon people, that’s a fact”, he pointed out.

Dione also emphasizes the importance of Inpe and the work that the agency does. “Another question, which is a divergence that we have, is about the possibility of SpaceX monitoring the Amazon, understanding that Inpe already does this and we always defend the autonomy of institutions, including institutions such as Inpe, which is a world reference in monitoring and has been contributing a lot to the country and the world,” he concluded.

Repercussion

In the social networks, specialists pointed out what would be Elon Musk’s interests in the Amazon region. The political scientist, communicologist and educator Andressa Pellanda wrote about risks to education.

“Lack of connectivity of students in the Amazon serving as an assumption for a system that will deliver data from the region to the richest man in the world. A risk to education, the environment and sovereignty. President surrenderist and irresponsible,” she said.

Maurício Angelo, founder of the Mining Observatory, researcher, professor and analyst published a thread about the actions of the federal government and also cited Musk’s possible interests in Amazon data. “The Bolsonaro government destroys Inpe and Amazon monitoring, pushes for mining on indigenous land, and opens the door to international lobbying that interests, directly, Elon Musk. In addition, it offers a semiconductor factory and … the monitoring of the Amazon. Pull,” he tweeted.