Amazon Rainforest in Brazil Is Being Plagued by Armed Violence Linked to Illegal Gold Mining

By Mary Webber Jun 24 2021, 04:33 AM EDT

The Palimiu region inside the Amazon rainforest in Brazil is being plagued by armed violence linked to illegal gold mining. Indigenous tribes are already helping one another as they face attacks against them.

BBC News reported that Dario Kopenawa, an indigenous leader from the Yanomami tribe, said he is used to hearing pleas for help from communities in the Amazon rainforest. However, this time, he said it is different.

Kopenawa noted that illegal gold miners attacked them and almost killed them. Dario Kopenawa was told that the "garimpeiros" or illegal gold miners had arrived on seven motorboats. He said some of them were carrying automatic weapons and started shooting indiscriminately.

Kopenawa noted that he learned that a bullet grazed the head of an indigenous man and four miners were injured during the attack. The illegal gold miners threatened to come back for revenge before leaving the village after half an hour.

Mining is illegal in Palimiu since it is a protected area in Brazil's Amazon rainforest. But Dario Kopenawa said that illegal gold miners have always found ways to do their work. Kopenawa noted that he avoids going to areas where the illegal gold miners are due to death threats.

A team of federal police traveled to Palimiu on a small plane following the attack and were joined by Junior Hekukari, who heads the local indigenous health council.

According to Hekukari, even the police were being attacked. He noted that the illegal gold miners fired multiple times at the village even with the presence of the officers who responded. He said the group of armed men left five minutes later.

No one was hurt. However, Hekukari noted that none of his people was safe if even the police officers were being attacked. The Palimiú region, where seven Yanomami communities are located, has a population of around 1,000.

Armed Violence and Indigenous Group in Brazil's Amazon Rainforest

Last month, illegal gold miners opened fire using automatic weapons on an indigenous community inside Brazil's Amazon Rainforest, according to another BBC News report.

One of the groups who responded to the attack was the Yanomami group. They fired back with bows and arrows, as well as shotguns.

One indigenous person and four miners were injured in the incident. Reports said the intrusions by illegal gold miners in indigenous reserves have intensified under the Bolsonaro government.

Around 20,000 illegal gold miners are in the Yanomami area, which is Brazil's largest protected indigenous reserve. Hekurari said the half-hour shootout happened in the Palimiu community, near the border of Venezuela.

Transcripts of audio messages shared in groups used by illegal miners and published by the non-profit group Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) suggest the village was attacked after they seized petrol that was to be sent to a mining camp.

The messages also hinted that the attackers were allegedly connected to a criminal group. Experts believe that the area is controlled by members of the São Paulo-based Primeiro Comando da Capital, which is Brazil's largest criminal group linked to drug and arms trafficking.

Brazil's Government Response on Illegal Gold Mining

Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro had promised the Yanomami community last month that he would respect their wish to keep mining out of their reservation in the Amazon rainforest, according to a Reuters report.

However, he said he would continue to seek access to other indigenous lands for commercial agriculture and mining.

During their meeting, the local indigenous leaders in Maturaca, an Amazon village at the Yanomami reservation, asked Bolsonaro to protect their lands from the threat of mining.

A Yanomami warrior presented a bunch of long arrows that Bolsonaro held as he spoke to the community. Jair Bolsonaro said their wishes will be respected if the group does not want mining in their area.

However, he noted that other indigenous people in the Amazon and outside the Amazon wanted to mine their land and grow crops, and "that right of theirs" will also be respected.

Jose Mario Goes, head of the Yanomami Association of the River Cauaburi and Tributaries, told Reuters that it was good that Bolsonaro made a speech stating that their territory is not threatened by mining.

For the first time since he became the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro has visited two indigenous reservations in the Amazon rainforest last month.

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