The most recent, largest and probably last migratory wave into the Amazon started in the 1960s with the initiation of infrastructure projects and land distribution programmes in Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Peru and Ecuador. Each country had its version of these policies, but the objective was clear in the universal adoption of the term ‘colonization’, the names of key institutions and the self-identification of its participants as ‘Colonos’. Like previous epochs, the policies and events had strong regional variations that reflected the origin of the immigrants and the cultural traditions they brought with them into the Amazon. Brazil Policy initiatives to develop the Amazon were organized and financed by multiple agencies, reflecting an ‘all of government’ approach of the military government that ruled Brazil from 1964 to 1985. It was a logical extension of policies initiated by previous civilian governments, most notably the Marcha para o Oeste and the decision to relocate the federal capital to Brasília. In 1966, the military government launched Operação Amazônia, which was summarized by the slogan: ‘Bring people without land to a land without people.’ Integral to this policy of migration and settlement was the intention to physically occupy the landscapes bordering neighboring countries. Special incentives included land grants, exemption from federal income and excise taxes, and a progressive land tax that encouraged the conversion of forest to crop land or pasture. The initiative also established the concept of the ‘Legal Amazon’, which designated which states of the federal union were eligible for the fiscal incentives.…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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South Africa Today – Environment
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