Ituna/Itatá invasion escalates as Indigenous Land faces fires and illegal clearing

Over 500 individuals have recently taken control of Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Land, erecting unauthorized roads, igniting deliberate fires, and endangering federal officers. This land is inhabited by the Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous community, who practice voluntary isolation without any interaction with outsiders. On August 26, a federal court instructed the government to dispatch the National Public Security Force within 48 hours to address the invasion.

However, as of September 11, the security forces had not yet arrived. The recent invasion followed the establishment of the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area (APA Bacajaí) under a new state law, enabling private landowners to construct residences and raise livestock. Nevertheless, APA Bacajaí entirely overlaps the federally protected Indigenous territory in Pará state, leading to legal ambiguity that authorities assert has been exploited by land speculators to legitimize occupation for cattle ranching and other agricultural pursuits.

The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF) has petitioned a federal court to impose a daily fine of 50,000 Brazilian reais (approximately $9,000) for the government's failure to dispatch sufficient security forces to control the invasion. The region is presently under a temporary land-use restriction order to safeguard the isolated inhabitants residing there.

The government contends it necessitates authorization from Pará’s government, which has not cooperated. However, federal prosecutors argue that the federal government can operate on federal land without state authorization. Neither the federal government nor the state of Pará responded to Mongabay’s inquiries for commentary by the time of publication. In its press release, the MPF stated that the Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) was...