Brazilian Congress Undermines Environmental Agencies and Lula Administration.

Brazil's Congress has reduced the powers of the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples and the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, both led by women environmentalists, in a move that rejects the priorities of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The changes prevent the legalisation of new Indigenous territories and keep the Ministry of Environment from managing a national property registry that's a key tool for monitoring illegal deforestation. The move shows the increasing power of Brazil's "beef caucus," which opposes measures to control deforestation and the legalisation of more Indigenous lands.