Brazil's Senate Fast-Tracks Approval of Constitutional Time Limit on Indigenous Land Claims

Overview

• Senators used a special calendar to hold both rounds in one day, approving the urgency by 48–21 and the PEC by 54–14 in the first round and 52–15 in the second.
• The text limits land recognition to areas occupied or under dispute on October 5, 1988, and bars expansion beyond already demarcated boundaries.
• The proposal includes protections for private holders who prove good-faith possession or just title and requires prior market-value compensation by the Union if expropriation is needed.
• The vote escalates tensions with the Supreme Court after its 2023 ruling against the time-limit thesis and follows recent friction tied to a decision by Minister Gilmar Mendes on impeachment procedures.
• Indigenous organizations opposed the fast-tracking, threatened legal action, and reported being denied access to the Senate gallery during the session.