Bolsonaro wanted to exterminate my people, says Indigenous leader

Brazil's most revered Indigenous leader, Raoni Metuktire, has accused Jair Bolsonaro of wanting to "exterminate" Indigenous people.

- Tiago Rogero

According to the Kayapó chief, the far-right populist "encouraged invasions, mining and deforestation" while serving as president.

"He really wanted to exterminate us," Metuktire writes in his new book, Memórias do Cacique (the chief's memoirs). "But Indigenous peoples across Brazil united to resist his government."

He argues that "from now on, every president elected in Brazil must respect Indigenous peoples".

Metuktire, 88, gained international recognition in the 1980s for his efforts to combat environmental destruction and protect Indigenous lands and he became a target of Bolsonaro, whose administration oversaw a sharp rise in deforestation in the Amazon.

He recalls in the book that, toward the end of Bolsonaro's 2019-2023 term, the politician began appearing in his dreams: "I told him [in the dreams] 'Just wait - you'll be out of the presidency. I'll remove you'."