OPEN LETTER TO NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AUTHORITIES
Barra Velha / Bahia – Brazil, March 21, 2025
To the authorities of the Federative Republic of Brazil,
To the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,
To the United Nations Human Rights Council,
To the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,
To international organizations, the media, and global civil society:
By Cristina Verán
By Carmem Cazaubon (CS Intern)
By Xiting Tong (CS Intern)
“We who have the spiritual strength and relied on our land as a source of life are now selling our wealth and allowing them to be devastated in the name of progress…So what kind of progress is this?” asked the resident of the Jequitinhonha Valley, questioning the false promise of lithium mining corporations.
By Xiting Tong (CS Intern)
“Resisting the ‘avalanche’-like encroachment of the lithium mining industry is not only a collective fight in the community, but most importantly, it is a fight in one’s own heart and mind,” says one of the participants of the agricultural projects in Girau.
By Edson Krenak (Krenak, CS Staff) in collaboration with APIB
Indigenous Peoples have long participated in international gatherings, often bearing witness to how the lack of leadership, vision, and decisive action perpetuates injustices and exacerbates the multiple crises facing the world. The G20 Summit is no exception.
The Associação Quilombola Mutuca de Cima was founded in 2016 with the aim of promoting the visibility and valuing the cultural traditions of Quilombo Mutuca de Cima. Since then, they have developed a series of projects that include the production of audiovisual content and the organization of events.
By Xiting Tong (CS Intern)
Cultural Survival Urgently Calls on the Federal Government to Take Immediate Action to Complete Demarcation of Indigenous Lands
By Tia-Alexi Roberts (Narragansett, CS Staff)
Land Acknowledgement
We acknowledge that we are headquartered on Massachusett land, in Cambridge, MA, and we thank the past, current, and future Indigenous stewards of this territory.
