About sixty Munduruku demonstrators blocked the main entrance to COP30 in Belém to demand a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and faster demarcation of ancestral lands. They also protested the planned Ferrogrão railway and recent oil exploration near the Amazon mouth. COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago met the group and described the talks as “very positive,” while security officials said there was no danger. Earlier this week protesters briefly breached a negotiation venue, raising questions about security at the summit.
Munduruku Protesters Block COP30 Entrance in Belém, Demand Land Rights and Halt to Ferrogrão and Oil Projects
About sixty Munduruku demonstrators blocked the main entrance to COP30 in Belém to demand a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and faster demarcation of ancestral lands. They also protested the planned Ferrogrão railway and recent oil exploration near the Amazon mouth. COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago met the group and described the talks as “very positive,” while security officials said there was no danger. Earlier this week protesters briefly breached a negotiation venue, raising questions about security at the summit.
02:58 AM, 11/15/2025Environment
Indigenous demonstrators interrupt COP30 arrival in Belém
Dozens of Munduruku people formed a human barricade at the main entrance to the UN climate summit in Belém on Friday, urging global attention to threats facing their territories in the Amazon. Around sixty men and women in traditional dress and headdresses — some carrying infants — stood beneath the blazing sun as tens of thousands of delegates arrived at the venue.
The group demanded a meeting with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and resisted being pushed aside while diplomats were escorted in through side doors. This was the second disruption by Indigenous demonstrators at the COP30 talks this week in the Amazon-port city of Belém.
COP30 president André Corrêa do Lago left a morning event to meet the protesters. He was handed a written list of grievances and held consultations in a nearby hall where Indigenous people of different ages sang, danced and chanted.
“We had a very positive, very constructive dialogue,” Corrêa do Lago said after the meeting. “We will seek to address all the concerns they have.”
The Munduruku are pressing for faster demarcation of ancestral lands and oppose the Ferrogrão project — a planned nearly 1,000-kilometre (about 620-mile) railway designed to run west-to-east across Brazil to transport grain. They also criticised recent oil exploration near the mouth of the Amazon.
A banner held by a demonstrator read, 'Fighting for our territories is fighting for our lives.' Indigenous leader Alessandra Korap called for President Lula to meet them and stressed: “We want to be heard; we want to participate in the negotiations.”
President Lula’s administration has taken steps some see as supportive of Indigenous rights, including creating a Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and reversing deforestation trends. Still, many Indigenous leaders fault the government for the slow pace of land demarcation and for allowing new oil and infrastructure projects in sensitive areas.
Dozens of armed soldiers and military police guarded the summit gate, and the United Nations reassured attendees there was “no danger.” On Tuesday evening, earlier demonstrations briefly breached the negotiation venue and clashed with security — an uncommon scene at UN climate conferences — prompting debate about security measures at COP30.
After roughly two hours the crowd waiting in the sun was allowed to enter through the main gate. Brazilian officials defended security arrangements, while Indigenous leaders said their demonstrations were necessary to draw attention to urgent threats to their lands and livelihoods.