Indigenous protesters in Brazil interrupt hearing on Amazon grain railway

Indigenous protesters block the entrance to a public hearing on the construction of a railway that is planned to run through their lands to carry grains to northern port in the Amazon, in Novo Progresso, Para state, Brazil December 15, 2023. Well Kumaruwara/Handout via REUTERS

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Indigenous protesters on Friday tried to prevent a public hearing on the construction of a railway that is planned to run through their lands to carry grains to a northern port in the Amazon.

The 1,000-km (620-mile) Ferrograo railway is backed by farmers and grain companies who say it would reduce reliance on roads and lower costs for transporting soy from the farm state of Mato Grosso to the river ports in the Amazon basin.