Cargill port in Brazil seized by indigenous protesters

Indigenous protesters in Brazil occupied a shipping terminal operated by US agribusiness giant Cargill on Saturday, calling for a halt to dredging of Amazon waterways.

Brazil, the world’s leading exporter of soy and maize, has been upgrading river ports to improve transportation efficiency.

Demonstrators, who had been gathering outside the terminal in Santarém, in northern Pará state, for a month, took over company offices over the weekend.

In a statement to AFP, Cargill said operations had been suspended, attributing the disruption to “an ongoing dispute between government authorities and Indigenous communities.”

The protesters are demanding the repeal of an order signed by President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in August that designated Amazon rivers as priority zones for shipping and port development.

Indigenous groups oppose the expansion of ports and the dredging of the Amazon’s rivers, which they consider essential to their way of life.

Alessandra Korap, a community leader from the Munduruku people, told AFP that protesters “will only leave if Lula and the government overturn and revoke the decree.”

Activists also staged demonstrations outside Cargill’s offices in São Paulo on Friday.

“When they start dredging the river and causing pollution, the river will cease to be a common good for all humanity and will become the property of a single individual,” said demonstrator Thiago Guarani.

Two weeks ago, the government suspended dredging in the Tapajós River, a key Amazon tributary, following Indigenous-led protests.

Cargill called on both the government and demonstrators to engage in “constructive dialogue". The US-based company is a major shipper of soy and corn in Brazil.