Indigenous youths in Brazil use tech as ‘weapon’ to protect Amazon

Indigenous activist Txai Surui speaks during the first day of the Web Summit Rio 2023 at the RioCentro Expo Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on May 1, 2023. — AFP

RIO DE JANEIRO: Her grandfather defended native lands in the Brazilian Amazon with bows and arrows. Today, the weapon of choice for Txai Surui and many young Indigenous activists like her is technology.

The 26-year-old Brazilian is one of the stars of Web Summit Rio, the world’s biggest annual technology conference, which was held for the first time outside Europe this week, gathering more than 20,000 entrepreneurs and investors in Brazil.