RIO DE JANEIRO, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Brazil's Supreme Court Judge Luis Roberto Barroso suspended on Monday a presidential decree about changing the regulations for demarcation of indigenous lands.
The decree signed by President Jair Bolsonaro, who has publicly spoken against establishing more indigenous lands in Brazil, transfers the authority over demarcations from the National Indigenous Foundation (Funai) to the minister of agriculture.
With Barroso's suspension, the demarcation remains under Funai's responsibility for the time being. The matter will be brought up to be confirmed by the 11 judges at the Supreme Federal Court. As Barroso called for urgency on the issue, the case may be discussed on Tuesday.
When Bolsonaro took office at the beginning of the year, he issued a temporary order on restructuring the government, which included transferring the authority over demarcations to the minister of agriculture.
As required by Brazilian law, the presidential decree was later confirmed by the Congress, but the part about demarcations was vetoed. Bolsonaro then issued a second decree determining the Ministry of Agriculture takes over demarcations, which is now suspended.
