The Supreme Court of Brazil held a session yesterday over the territorial borders of the Raposa Serra do Sol reserve, a large indigenous territory within the State of Roraima, mostly populated by various ethnic groups such as the Macushi, Patamona, Wapichana, Ingarico and Taurepang. In 2005, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva approved the setting up of the reserve, for which received a great deal of criticism from the government of the State and rice and timber producers operating in the area. Their intentions to keep hold of their industries was actually causing the disintegration of the territory and the exclusion of the indigenous population from large portions of land. The indigenous leaders demand that official status of the area as "indigenous" to be respected so that its traditional inhabitants can benefit from it.

The Supreme court is the body responsible for solving a complex and significant conflict which would eventually set a precedent for hundreds of similar cases all across the country. The fact that the case has been postponed twice -last August and yesterday for the second time- bears witness of such complexity. Nonetheless, before yesterday's voting was cancelled, eight out of eleven judge magistrates of the court expressed their support in favour of mantaining Raposa as a united administrative territory, thus driving rice producers out.

The Roraima State governor who, as reported by BBC Brazil, recently argued in favour of maintaining non-indigenous special economic zones, has considered the matter to be settled and expressed his wish to respect it. If the current decision becomes final, the government will have to reach an agreement with the producers over the compensations in exchange for giving back the land to the indigenous people.

Further information:

• BBCBrasil.com: Para governador, arrozeiros terão de sair de Raposa and STF retoma hoje julgamento 'chave' para terras indígenas
• Survial International: Indians arrive in capital for landmark land rights case