Two months ago, more than 500 people invaded Brazil’s Ituna/Itatá Indigenous Territory in Pará, northern Brazil, where the isolated Igarapé Ipiaçava Indigenous people live. In response, Brazil has deployed the National Public Security Force for a period of 180 days to support the country’s Indigenous Affairs Agency (Funai) as it works to protect the Indigenous territory. “The deployment of the National Force is already underway,” a Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) spokesperson told Mongabay over email. “Troops are already in the region.” In August 2026, a new state law in Pará created the Bacajaí Environmental Protection Area (APA Bacajaí), which allows private landowners to build homes and raise livestock in the area. However, the federal government maintains that the state law is invalid since the APA Bacajaí completely overlaps with the federally protected Indigenous land in Pará state. In the weeks after the law was approved, hundreds of people invaded the Indigenous land, smashing through security gates, tearing down warning signs and setting up camps inside. A Mongabay investigation published in October reveals how the fast-tracked law helped legitimize and encourage hundreds of people to invade the territory. A coordinated social media campaign involving politicians and influential agribusiness figures also helped push the invasion, Mongabay found. The investigation also found a sharp increase in forest fires, jumping from zero alerts in August to 23 signs of fires inside Ituna/Itatá by Oct. 13. On Aug. 26, a federal court ordered the government to deploy a security team within 48…This article was originally published on Mongabay
