Head of Brazil’s Indian Affairs Agency fired amid conflicts

SAO PAULO – The Brazilian government has fired the head of the Indian Affairs Agency amid escalating land conflicts between ranchers and indigenous tribes.

The decision to dismiss Antonio Fernandes Costa was published Friday in the government’s official gazette.

Costa was fired less than a week after armed men attacked a group of Indians occupying ranch land in Brazil’s northeastern state of Maranhao, injuring at least seven people.

That attack came about a week after police in Brasilia fired shots to disperse thousands of indigenous people who gathered outside Congress demanding the demarcation of their lands.

Costa said earlier this week that the agency did not have enough resources or manpower to resolve land disputes involving Indians and ranchers.

The agency’s budget was reduced this year by more than 40 per cent.