Flotilla of 200 Boats Opens People’s Summit in Belém as Raoni Urges Lula and Macron to Halt Oil and Ferrogrão

Overview

• Organizers said roughly 5,000 participants from 60 countries joined about 200 vessels on a route from UFPA to Vila da Barca to inaugurate the Cúpula dos Povos.
• Indigenous, ribeirinho and quilombola leaders pressed for land demarcation and rejected Petrobras’s Equatorial Margin drilling, the Ferrogrão railway and Tapajós waterway projects.
• Cacique Raoni, participating with the Caravana da Resposta, said he asked Presidents Lula and Macron to block oil exploration and Ferrogrão and signaled plans to convey demands to COP30 leadership.
• Apib estimated more than 2,500 Indigenous people are in Belém for the forum’s Nov. 12–16 program at UFPA, which elevates social and territorial perspectives alongside the UN talks.
• COP30’s president confirmed two guards were lightly injured and an X‑ray machine was damaged when about 50 people tried to enter the Blue Zone without credentials on Nov. 11; Federal Police are investigating, and Indigenous leaders involved said their protest was peaceful and aimed at securing demarcation and a seat at the table.