"BRASILIA - Brazil should open indigenous land to commercial farming, Agriculture Minister Tereza Cristina Dias said on Friday, while also seeking to soften many of President Jair Bolsonaro’s controversial stances on native people and the environment.

Farmers form a key base of support for right-wing firebrand Bolsonaro who since taking office Jan. 1 has placed pro-agribusiness policies at the center of his agenda. Activists warn his government’s positions would strip away protections for the environment, the Amazon rainforest and indigenous peoples.

Reservation land covering roughly 12 percent of Brazil’s territory is currently off limits for commercial farming."

Jake Spring and Anthony Boadle report for Reuters January 18, 2019. [2]