Brazil's Congress Undermines Environmental and Indigenous Ministries.

Brazil's Congress, with a conservative majority, has voted to reduce the authority of two ministries responsible for protecting Indigenous rights and the environment, in a move that weakens President Lula da Silva's efforts to protect Indigenous rights and stem Amazon deforestation. The agribusiness industry, which opposes the legalisation of more Indigenous lands and any measures to control deforestation, was behind the move. The changes block the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples from legalising the boundaries of new Indigenous territories and prevent the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change from managing a property registry.