Sonia Guajajara is Elected as a Lawmaker in Sao Paulo

On this Sunday, the The Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) candidate Sonia Guajajara (PSOL), an internationally recognized environmental activist, was elected as the first federal Indigenous lawmaker from the state of Sao Paulo.

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"Sao Paulo, we got it! I am very, very grateful for your trust! Let's join minds and hearts, and build a new Brazil. We're together!," the Indigenous woman told her thousands of supporters.

"We'll bring to the center of the Brazilian political debate the voices of the historically oppressed and silenced peoples: the Indigenous peoples, the Black people, and farmers."

"Their main banners are the defense of the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest, the defense of the rights of minorities, respect for diversity and plurality, and the reconstruction of democracy in Brazil, which has been so weakened over the last four years," Guajajara stressed.

During her campaign, Guajajara highlighted that large agribusinesses are one of the most destructive forces of Brazilian ecosystems and spoke out in favor of regularizing the limits of the Indigenous territories, a state policy that the far-right President Jair Bolsonaro opposes.

"We cannot accept the mining that spills mercury and contaminants into the rivers, destroying the jungle, annihilating fish, killing the Yanomami and Munduruku peoples, and exploiting the workers. Indigenous blood should not be impregnated in gold and diamonds," she said.

Born in 1974 in the Arariboia territory, Sonia has dedicated her life to fighting for the rights of the oppressed. She is currently coordinator of the Articulation of the Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), which has allowed her to bring the voice of her Brazilian poor to the United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR)

At age 15, she left her homeland to study in Minas Gerais, where she earned university and master's degrees in literature, nursing, special education, and culture.