The federal government announced, this Friday (29), a set of actions with the aim of valuing Afro-Brazilian history and culture, generating employment and income for the black population in general and promoting respect for religious freedom in the country .
Among the measures announced this Friday (29), is the expropriation of land in Bahia, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, Paraíba, Piauí, Paraná and São Paulo. According to Palácio do Planalto, the decrees of Declaration of Social Interest for Quilombos, signed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, will benefit 1,123 families and around 4 thousand quilombolas from 15 territories.
The titling of these quilombola territories is the first step towards guaranteeing autonomy and protection of the communities, promoting the preservation of their cultural traditions. According to the federal government, the set of areas expropriated for titling of quilombola territories is the largest since 2008, when Lula, in his second term, handed over 30 areas.
Held on the last working day of the month in which the National Zombie and Black Consciousness Day (November 20), the decree signing ceremony was attended by the ministers of Racial Equality, Anielle Franco, and of Health, Nísia Trindade, and the minister of Agrarian Development and Family Farming, Paulo Teixeira.
“It was a joy to start Saturday renewed with the 15 decrees declaring social interest for quilombos signed yesterday by President Lula. Among them, the Quilombo Pitanga de Palmares, in Simões Filho (BA) and Candeias (BA), where the quilombola leader Mãe Bernadete was murdered last year”, commented Anielle, today (30), on your social networks.
Quilombola leader, yalorixá and former secretary for the Promotion of Racial Equality of Simões Filho, Maria Bernadete Pacifico, Mother Bernadete, was shot dead by criminals who invaded the community and took her and her relatives hostage, in August 2023. Six years earlier, Mãe Bernadete’s son, Binho do Quilombo, had already been shot dead in the municipality. In August last year, the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (Incra) recognized the delimitation of quilombola territory.
President Lula signs decrees that expropriate areas for quilombos – Ricardo Stuckert/PR
In addition to Pitanga de Palmares, the following quilombos benefited from the presidential decrees: Vicentes, in Xique-Xique (BA), where 29 quilombola families live; Iúna, in Lençóis (BA) (39 families); Jetimana and Boa Vista, in Camamu (BA) (61 families); Deposit, in Brejo (MA) (13 families); Marobá dos Teixeira, in Almenara (MG) (79 families); Lagoa Grande, in Jenipapo de Minas, Novo Cruzeiro and Araçuaí (MG) (29 families); Pitombeira, in Várzea (PB) (91 families); Monkeys, in São Miguel do Tapuio (PI) (50 families); João Surá, in Adrianópolis (PR) (34 families); Sacopã, in Rio de Janeiro (RJ) (nine families); São Benedito, in São Fidélis (RJ) (60 families); São Pedro, in Eldorado and Iporanga (SP) (40 families); Galvão, in Eldorado and Iporanga (SP) (29 families) and Porto Velho, in Itaóca and Iporanga (SP) (24 families).
Afrotourism
On that occasion, the president also signed a decree establishing the Rotas Negras Program. According to the federal government, the initiative foresees the investment of around R$63 million, until 2026, to promote tourism aimed at Afro-Brazilian culture and contribute to the promotion of racial equality.
The program’s proposal is to encourage the preservation and appreciation of black cultural and historical memory and heritage, contributing to combating racism in the country; promote tourism routes based on memory, ancestry, heritage and black culture and encourage the adherence of federative entities to the National System for the Promotion of Racial Equality (Sinapir) and the Brazilian Tourism Map.
It also seeks to promote the creative and circular economy to generate employment and income for the black population included in the tourism production chain; develop new models of tourist products and services related to Afro-Brazilian culture and encourage tourist experiences or services related to Afro-Brazilian culture nationally and internationally.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, so-called afrotourism is “a journey of reconnection, appreciation and learning” in a country “where African heritages are deeply rooted in cultural identity and diversity” and is gaining more and more relevance on the government agenda. To better support and give more visibility to the segment’s actions, the department is mapping state and municipal initiatives, public policies and attractions.
Religious freedom
Representatives from the Ministries of Racial Equality; Human Rights and Citizenship; of Culture; of Justice and Public Security and Agrarian Development and Family Farming also signed the National Policy for Peoples of African Origin and Terreiro.
With investments that exceed R$115 million and involve 11 federal agencies, the initiative seeks to value African ancestry in Brazil, valuing the knowledge and practices of traditional peoples and combating religious racism. In your profile on X (formerly Twitter)Lula commented that national policy seeks to “promote respect and religious freedom”.
Still within the scope of public policies announced on the occasion of Black November, the federal government announced a new protocol for pharmaceutical assistance to people with sickle cell disease, a genetic and hereditary disease characterized by a mutation in the gene that produces hemoglobin (HbA) and which, proportionally , affects black people more.
In a publication on social mediathe Ministry of Racial Equality reported that the measure “expands health care for the black population, with pharmaceutical assistance that improves patients’ prognosis and promotes a better quality of life, especially for children”.
The Ministry of Racial Equality and the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) also signed an agreement that provides for the allocation of R$33 million to support projects for the preparation and implementation of Quilombola Territorial and Environmental Management Plans (Pgtaq) in Legal Amazon – territory made up of nine Brazilian states: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Mato Grosso, Pará, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and part of Maranhão.
Named Quilombola Natures, the initiative will receive resources from the Amazon Fund, managed by BNDES, under the coordination of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change. Territorial and environmental management plans are the main means of implementing Quilombola National Territorial and Environmental Management Policy (Pngtaq)established in 2023.
“We are making the biggest investment of this administration in this much-needed policy”, commented Anielle Franco. “We are talking about a policy that recognizes that, just like in indigenous territories, quilombolas are those who best preserve the environment, with their sustainable ways of life and systems”, concluded the minister.
