Brazil Authorities Attack Illegal Miners at Yanomami Amazon Territory

By BERT HOOVER Feb 08 2023, 22:31 PM EST

Government officials backed by Brazil's law, Indigenous, and environment ministries forced illegal miners out of Yanomami Indigenous land in Amazon Wednesday, citing the massive river contamination, starvation, and disease they had brought to one of the world's most isolated populations.

The people involved in the illegal gold dredging quickly evacuated the area on foot. It may be months before the operation is complete.

An estimated 20,000 people are involved in the trade, which frequently involves the use of poisonous mercury in the gold-separating process, AP reports.

Brazil's largest Indigenous territory, spanning Roraima and Amazonas states, is home to an estimated 30,000 Yanomami people and is about the size of Portugal.

Brazil Armed Agents Destroy Illegal Miners Properties

Dozens of miners have been detained and removed from Brazil's largest native reservation on the northern border with Venezuela since Monday, when armed officers of the government's environmental protection agency Ibama arrived by helicopter and motorboat.

According to photos provided by Ibama, they burned wooden shacks and a hangar containing a plane at a secret airport used by miners to fly in supplies.

The agency said on Tuesday that it had destroyed a helicopter, an airplane, and a bulldozer, as well as seized firearms, 12-meter (40-ft) boats, barrels containing 5,000 liters (1,320 gallons) of fuel, generators, internet antennas, freezers, and a ton of food.

Ibama claimed in a statement that the operation had the approval of the government's Indigenous affairs agency Funai and that military soldiers had manned blockades on the rivers to prevent supplies from reaching the miners, Reuters noted.

"Not a moment too soon. Get the miners out - and keep them out!" said Survival International.

The Indigenous rights organization claimed that the miners' actions had led to a terrible health crisis that had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Yanomami, particularly children, due to preventable infections and starvation.

Effects of Illegal Miners Operation on Brazil's Yanomami Indigenous Community

The Yanomami have long been isolated on a large reservation on Venezuela's border. Since the 1970s, when a military administration constructed a route through the Amazon jungle, the country's mineral-rich areas have attracted illegal miners.

Illegal miners and illegal loggers increased their invasions of reservations when ex-president Jair Bolsonaro took office, and the government has done nothing to stop them.

The illegal mining has caused starvation and diseases like malaria among the Yanomami people, prompting the federal government to declare a public health emergency.

The miners' use of mercury poisoned the waterways and reduced the number of animals available for hunting, per Al Jazeera.

Four clinics within Yanomami territory have been overrun by gold miners, rendering them nonfunctional, according to a report published by the Ministry of Health on Tuesday.

Seven hundred Yanomami people, more than three times the hospital's capacity, have been airlifted to a temporary medical facility in Boa Vista to receive treatment for their hunger and illness.

"The malnutrition crisis continues to be extremely serious. We believe the reopening of medical units can only be done when the miners are all removed," Indigenous Health Secretary Ricardo Weibe Tapeba said during a news conference.

After the Yanomamis were put in a "degrading" situation on Tuesday, Brazil President Lula tweeted that his government would not tolerate illegal miners on Indigenous grounds in Amazon.

"We also need to find out who is responsible for what happened," he said.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Brazil pushes illegal miners out of Indigenous land - From Associated Press