Brazil has suspended a decree on dredging and privatizing the Tapajós River, a major tributary of the Amazon, after protests shut down a grain terminal — but Indigenous groups are pressing for its full revocation.
Hundreds of Indigenous protesters have since Jan. 22 blockaded the Cargill grain facility in the Amazonian city of Santarém over the threats they say the decree poses to the 14 Indigenous territories and hundreds of riverine communities living along the Tapajós.
The decree was a part of an infrastructure project called the Tapajós waterway, which plans to allow private sector actors to expand sections of the Tapajós, Madeira and Tocantins rivers. The project would make the rivers navigable year-round for large barges carrying soy, corn and other grains from Brazil’s agricultural states in the Cerrado and the Amazon to ports on the Atlantic coast.
After almost three weeks of protests, the federal government suspended the decree on Feb. 6, but protesters continue to demand that the decree be revoked entirely.
“The suspension was announced but for us it is insufficient,” Indigenous leader Alessandra Munduruku told Mongabay in an audio message. “It doesn’t guarantee our rights, our lives or our river. This is what we want.”
According to Munduruku, as of Feb. 9 an estimated 800-900 protesters are still blocking access to the Cargill facility. The U.S.-based multinational would be one of the main beneficiaries of the proposed Tapajós waterway expansion, which would allow it to export more grain at a lower cost.
Protesters say affected communities were not consulted, despite Brazil’s Constitution requiring the free, prior and informed consent of affected Indigenous communities.
The affected Indigenous nations represented in the protest include the Arapiuns, Apiaká, Arara, Borari, Jaraqui, Cara Preta, Cumaru, Maytapu, Munduruku, Tapajós, Tapuia, Tupayú, Tupi and Sateré-Mawé.
Four local civil society organizations sent the government a joint letter in October 2025 criticizing the social and environmental impacts of the waterway project. In November, smaller protests were held in boats along the Tapajós River.
Local communities say the 250-kilometer (155-mile) infrastructure project would increase dangerous river traffic for locals for whom the river is a lifeline. Already, waves caused by barges have made river navigation unsafe for smaller boats used by residents for daily activities like fishing and transporting children to and from schools.
“If there is already damage now, imagine the impact once the river is dredged to allow large ships to pass through all year round. How will these populations survive?” Haroldo Pinto, regional coordinator at the Indigenist Missionary Council, a Catholic organization that advocates for Indigenous rights, told Mongabay reporter André Schröder by phone in November 2025.
Local right-wing politician Malaquias Mottin nearly ran over an Indigenous protester on Feb. 5 while trying to drive through the blockade. Protesters filmed the incident, and a citizen’s report was lodged with Santarém City Hall demanding Mottin be removed from office.
Banner image: Demonstrators on Feb. 8 in Santarém, Pará state, Brazil. Image courtesy of Movimento Tapajós Vivo.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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