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Brazil appoints first Indigenous person to key ministry position

Wikipedia

Brazil’s President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced Thursday the appointment of the nation’s first Indigenous person to a key ministry position. Sonia Guajajara will lead the new Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, a department Lula promised to create during the presidential campaign.

Guajajara is widely known as the leader of the main umbrella group for Brazil’s many Indigenous tribes and is a member of the Amazon Guajajara tribe. This year she made Time Magazine’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people.

Lula also announced that Amazon activist Marina Silva will be the country’s next minister of environment. She is credited with carrying out Brazil’s most effective strategy for reducing deforestation.

Lula has promised to end all deforestation by 2030.