The removal of illegal miners from the Yanomami Indigenous Land (TI) is a priority action to reverse the socio-environmental crisis generated over the last few years, according to specialists and leaders in the region. The Yanomami are considered a people of recent contact and the Yanomami Indigenous Land (TI) has been demarcated and homologated for 30 years. It is the Yanomami who protect the largest indigenous reserve in the country. For those who are just now learning about the news about the Yanomami, the situation that broke out seems new, but the damage caused by mining is prolonged over time. Between 1987 and 1990, a hundred clandestine mining lanes were opened around the main tributaries of the Rio Branco, which allowed the number of miners, estimated at between 30,000 and 40,000, to reach five times the population. indigenous. Currently, it is estimated that there are around 20,000 garimpeiros in the TI and 26,000 Yanomami in the Brazilian part and 11,000 in the Venezuelan part. This Tuesday (31), federal deputy Joenia Wapichana (Rede-RR), who takes office as president of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) tomorrow (2), said that the country is going through a new phase, in which the the fight against illegal mining will have priority among the federal government’s agendas. Like the parliamentarian and Yanomami leaders, sociologist Bruno Gomes agrees that the withdrawal of miners should be one of the first steps. For him, the State has two roles to fulfill in the case of illegal mining: that of stifling illegal activities and that of guaranteeing that the native peoples can live as they wish. “There are 30 million Brazilian men and women who live in this region [Amazônica] who need to have opportunities for ways to generate income, for work”, says he, who is also the founder of Agência Humana, the entity that coordinates the Working Group on Mining of the Concertação pela Amazônia initiative. “We see that there is a propitious moment for, if the government has the political will, to attack head-on some issues of command and control, of combating crime and associating this with projects and actions, medium and long-term programs, paths, opportunities, possibilities for these populations to live in a sustainable way. according to their traditional ways of life”, he amends. Health crisis The president of the Urihi Yanomami Association, Júnior Hekurari states that “for four years, the Yanomami have been struggling to survive” and that, in 2020, he observed a significant increase in malaria and malnutrition among the population. According to him, the difficulties in accessing the Yanomami IL is something that hinders the counting of cases and makes it difficult to monitor patients: “four years ities always crying”, he laments. When government authorities went to the Pole Base Surucucu, in Roraima, last month, Júnior Hekurari followed everything closely. “There were many patients, malnourished children. It was very serious, very tense. Children convulsing with malaria, malnutrition”, he reports. The health professionals themselves were getting sick. In the unit, a team made up of only three nursing technicians, a nurse and a doctor treated approximately 150 children with malnutrition. “We helped the health team, who were worn out, with psychological problems, because they were working all day and night. That’s impossible”, he underlines, adding that the Special Indigenous Sanitary District (DSEI) in the area should soon undergo a restructuring, promised by the Lula government. The changes are already coming to the region. Last week, for example, a team from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) visited another point on the TI, in the region of São Gabriel da Cachoeira (AM). SUS national force in serving the Yanomami – Igor Evangelista/ MS According to a report by the Hutukara Associação Yanomami, released last week, in 2018 there were 9,908 cases of malaria, and in the following year, the beginning of the Bolsonaro government, the sum jumped to 18,187 . In 2020, the entity accounted for 19,828 cases and, in 2021, 21,883 cases. Hutukara has participated and contributed to meetings to document what happens to the Yanomami people. In April of last year, the month in which, traditionally, the indigenous movement gains visibility with events throughout Brazil, the Yanomami under Attack report was released. The document brings together testimonies from the Yanomami, which show what it is like to live in a land that has been invaded and is constantly in dispute. One of the facts that became a scandal, due to the seriousness of the complaint, was that the Bolsonaro government distributed chloroquine in the region. The medicine was presented by the previous government as beneficial to treat covid-19, but scientific studies prove that the medicine is not effective. In July 2020 alone, the Army took 13,500 pills to indigenous communities in the Amazon. Lack of dialogue and misinformation Júnior Hekurari comments that, currently, around 60 leaders have to deal with the demands of the communities, which inhabit the territory of 9.6 million hectares. Old problems are mixed with new ones, as campaigns on social networks and fake news only contribute to misinforming the population about the real situation of the Yanomami. One of the untruths published, including by parliamentarians, accuses non-governmental organizations of being responsible for the increase in preventable deaths of Yanomami children during the Bolsonaro government. One of the targets is the Hutukara association. The region lacks even basic infrastructure for communication. The Surucucu community received the first internet antenna yesterday (31), through an action carried out with photographer Gabriel Chaim. The objective is to improve the connection and communication with the DSEI. As in the episode of the distribution of chloroquine, Funai – then the National Indian Foundation – also exempted itself from blame at other times, according to Júnior Hekurari. The body that was supposed to defend its people always maintained a “difficult” dialogue, which led local leaders to seek help from human rights defenders in Boa Vista. “Funai did not play its role, it did not defend the indigenous peoples, it did not protect indigenous lands. Funai defended the Bolsonaro government. We did not see Funai’s presence, it was difficult to have contact with Funai, it did not respond, it prohibited partners to work and fight malnutrition. That’s what happened, our rights were violated,” he says. Aggression and threats Júnior Hekurari says that it is necessary to guarantee the safety of the Yanomami and also of health professionals, so that they can protect themselves from the miners. For him, both the Yanomami and civil servants in the region are subjected to various levels of violence. “I myself went to rescue the bodies that were murdered. Children”, he says, referring to the case of two boys who died after being dragged by mining rafts. “We Yanomami live with fear. It’s murder, they point pistols, revolvers at the leaders. We get scared. Several people threaten, send messages [de ameaça] saying I’m going to die. It’s a lot of risk.” Júnior Hekurari has been a leader in the region since 2008 and is now part of a witness protection program. He says that he has already forwarded evidence of intimidation to the Federal Police, as fear cannot paralyze him. “I have to fight to defend my people, because they need me. Children need me. So, I take the risk.” Many young Yanomami are coerced into providing security for the garimpeiros. “Adolescents aged 14. Last year, a very strong thing happened. Teenagers aged 13, 14. It had four people. The garimpeiros offered alcoholic beverages. They went drinking, everyone armed with a pistol and killed themselves. It was very difficult, but the Federal Police were unable to investigate. It doesn’t have support from the federal government, because access to Yanomami land is very difficult.” There are also cases of Yanomami women who have children as a result of rape committed by prospectors. “They have many children. I’ve seen the prospectors’ children and their mothers raising them. We will take care, the child is not to blame. The woman and the teenager are not to blame. The communities suffer a lot”, he points out. Júnior Hekurari says that he places “very great hope” in the incoming government. “Brazil is a country full of culture, diversity, a country that does not have war, and the president of the country destroyed its people,” he concludes, referring to Jair Bolsonaro. Yanomami community in Roraima – Reuters/Bruno Kelly/Rights Reserved In April last year, when the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) submitted a request to the Federal Court to oblige the Union to resume protection actions and police operations against illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, Funai stated that it was involved in territorial monitoring activities through five Ethno-environmental Protection bases in the region. At the time, it added that it promoted permanent protection actions, territorial inspection and surveillance. adated by vested interests, lack of transparency and strong presence of non-governmental organizations”.
Agência Brasil
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