Brazil's Lula signs Amazon bill
By Tim Hirsch Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has approved a controversial bill allowing Amazon farmers to acquire an area of public land larger than France. But the president vetoed some of the most contentious clauses that would have enabled absentee landlords and companies to benefit from the measure. Smaller parcels of public land will be handed over for free, and larger ones at reduced or market rates. Critics say it will amount to an amnesty for illegal land-grabbers. … Environmental groups fear that could lead to a heating up of land speculation in the Amazon and encourage occupation of new forest areas. Among the critics of the measure have been federal prosecutors in the Amazon, who claim it is unconstitutional because it enables land to be given to people who have acquired it illegally, and because it could infringe the rights of traditional and indigenous communities.
