Indigenous leader Raoni says Bolsonaro “must leave”

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian indigenous chief Raoni Metuktire has called for President Jair Bolsonaro to quit after the far-right leader urged development of indigenous lands in the Amazon rainforest.

The nearly 90-year-old chief met with opposition lawmakers Wednesday and told reporters the president “must leave.”

A day earlier, Bolsonaro dismissed Raoni’s role as an international symbol of rainforest protection.

He said at the United Nations that leaders such as Raoni “are used as a ploy by foreign governments” trying to advance their own interests in the Amazon.

Raoni has campaigned for decades for expansion and protection of indigenous territories in the Amazon. Bolsonaro complains that such reserves cover too much land and damage Brazil’s economic development.