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Brazil's Miracle: An indigenous disaster

Forty years on from the imprisonment, torture and forced displacement of the Krenak indigenous people, can they accept the States first apology?

During the Brazilian military dictatorship, the Krenak indigenous people were banned from speaking their language, imprisoned in reformatories and forcibly displaced from their land. In 2024, the State asked them for forgiveness.

Journalist P奴lama Kaufman travels to the remote city of Resplendor in the south-east of Brazil to meet up with Brazilian environmental journalist, Cristina Serra. Together, they are welcomed into the Krenak indigenous territory where they speak with Krenak elders, philosophers and community leaders.
They uncover the many layers to what Brazilian civil prosecutor Edmundo Dias calls an intentional 鈥済enocide鈥 of the Krenak, lead by Brazilian federal agencies. For decades, very little was known about what the Krenak suffered during the dictatorship, but now they are speaking out. In 2024, the Amnesty Commission made its first ever apology to an indigenous group when the president of the Commission got down on her knees in front of the Krenak. But can forgiveness be granted?

Presenter: P奴lama Kaufman and Cristina Serra
Producer: P奴lama Kaufman
A Bite Your Tongue production for 成人快手 World Service

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50 minutes

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Last Wednesday 23:06GMT

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