MPF investigates invasion of missionaries in indigenous land in Pará

The Federal Public Ministry (MPF) is investigating a complaint that unauthorized missionaries are organizing themselves to enter the Zo’é Indigenous Land in the first week of this month. The area is in the municipality of Óbidos, in Pará, with approximately 671 thousand hectares and was homologated in December 2009 , Tiriyó indigenous people from Aldeia Boca do Marapi reported seeing a group of five or six missionaries from Roraima, together with some indigenous people, heading towards the Erepecuru River, through which access to the Zo’é Indigenous Land passes. In view of the case, the Federal Public Prosecutor in Santarém/Itaituba, Gustavo Alcântara, requested that the Federal Police in Santarém investigate the possibility of invasion. He also asked Funai for more information about the identity of the missionaries. “The possible attack by missionaries, not authorized by Funai and the Zo’é, is an element of extremely high risk to the territorial integrity and collective health of the group”, warns the prosecutor, in a note from the MPF. Alcântara adds that unauthorized contact is the main factor for epidemics and genocide against indigenous peoples.

Agência Brasil