巴西部落的胜利 酒店集团取消发展计划

Victory for Brazilian Tribe as Hotel Group Cancels Development Plans

A tribe of native people in Eastern Brazil has been fighting for 15 years to prevent development on land they use to gather food.

This week, the Portuguese¹ hotel group Vila Gale² cancelled plans to build a hotel on land claimed by the tribe on the southern coast of the state of Bahia.

The indigenous³ group Tupinambá de Oliven?a has 4,631 members. They have been demanding that the land be identified as a reserve since 2003.

Brazil's indigenous rights agency, known as Funai, approved the request in 2009. One of Brazil's highest courts ruled for the Tupinambá in 2016.

But the tribe still needs approval from the Ministry⁴ of Justice and the president for the land to be an official reserve. The tribe has made several requests, but has received no answer.

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has not yet made a decision on the request. He has stated that he does not want to give any more land to indigenous people. Earlier this year, he said, there is "too much land for too few indigenous people."

Vila Gale said a local businessman offered them the land in 2018. Government representatives approved the project, as did Brazil's tourism agency Embratur. The company planned to open the hotel in 2021.

The company's chief executive officer Jorge Rebelo de Almeida denies that there was an indigenous population on the land. The company repeated that claim in a statement to reporters recently.

The statement said,"There is no indigenous reserve in this area, nor will there be."

The Tupinambá do not live on the land. They use it for gathering⁵ food. Portuguese anthropologist⁶ Susana Viegas said the land was necessary "for the community's survival." She has studied the Tupinambá since 2003.

Tribal⁷ chief Ramón Tupinambá said at a meeting in Brasilia in October that there would be "war" if Vila Gale tried to rebuild on the land.

Vila Gale is one of Portugal's largest hotel companies. It felt a lot of public pressure to cancel its plans after a newspaper published a letter from Brazil's tourism agency urging the government not to make the land a reserve. The agency said the hotel would bring $200 million of investment and create 2,000 jobs.

Portuguese politicians and Viegas, however, asked the company to cancel its plans. The company then said it would wait until the Ministry of Justice and the president made the final decision.

But this week, the company decided⁸ it did not want the hotel to go ahead in an "atmosphere of war." It canceled the plans.

Brazil's 1988 Constitution guarantees the rights of indigenous people to their ancestral lands.

I'm Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

indigenous - adj. the original people and wildlife of an area

reserve – n. land that has been set aside for a certain people or purpose

tourism – n. the activity of visiting a place for enjoyment⁹

anthropologist – n. one who studies people and cultures

ancestral - adj. reaching back many generations

1 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

2 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

3 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

6 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

7 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。