São Paulo

A Pará public prosecutor said last Tuesday (26) that black slavery in Brazil occurred because "indigenous people don't like to work."

"This problem of slavery here in Brazil happened because indigenous people do not like to work. And this remains the case today," said attorney Ricardo Albuquerque da Silva in a presentation to students at a university in Pará. He is also a general ombudsman for the Public prosecutor office.

"The Indian would rather die than dig the mine, plant for the Portuguese. And that's why they [Portuguese colonizers] went to fetch people from the tribes there in Africa to replace the Indian labor force here in Brazil."

In a statement, the Public Prosecutor's office said it did not agree with the content of da Silva's speech. - Roberto Almeida/ISA

He also said that he doesn't think "we owe quilombolas anything." "None of us here have a slave ship. None of us brought a ship full of people from Africa to be enslaved here in Brazil."

Later he said that "everyone is equal in rights and duties, men and women. You can choose who you want to be; you don't care. But everyone is equal. You don't have to be gay, be black, be Indian, be yellow, to be blue, to be the recipient of some public policy. This is wrong. What you have my loves is mutual respect. The rest is bullshit. "

In a statement, the Public Prosecutor's office said it did not agree with the content of da Silva's speech.

Translated by Kiratiana Freelon

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