The struggles for land discussed in this paper have occurred in contexts
characterized by some improvement of laws and policies designed to protect
ethnic and cultural minorities in Brazil and Colombia, following the
“multicultural turn” in international law. The paper discusses to a greater
extent the cases of communities of Afro-descendants who live in areas disputed
by agribusiness companies interested in expanding palm plantations mostly for
biodiesel production. We found out that the introduction of new rights has
first unleashed a local process of ethnic re-identification. In a certain way,
minority rights themselves have created those minorities they are supposed to
protect. Nevertheless, new minority rights have also reframed the conditions
under which struggles for land are conducted and negotiated in Colombia as
well as in Brazil. Seen as relays in an electrical circuit, minority rights
serve to modulate power at the local level: in some cases, new rights amplify
minorities’ power; in other situations, they can help contain the problems of
abuses of power
