Ívina Garcia – Cenarium Magazine
MANAUS – In recent weeks, the case of a 12 year old Yanomami girl, who was allegedly raped and killed by miners, gained national repercussion and several artists participated in the movement “Where is the Yanomami?”, who disappeared from the village after denouncing the crime. So far, the federal authorities such as the Federal Police, Funai, and the Federal Public Ministry have not found any evidence to prove the reported crimes in the region.
Despite the burned village and the reports of threats from the miners, the police have not confirmed the information. Even without proof, the advance of mining and the illegal exploitation of resources, not only minerals but also natural resources, has been reported by several protection fronts. Reports and notes are transmitted every week denouncing the actions of miners inside the Indigenous Lands.
The coordinator of the Center for Socio-Environmental Studies of the Amazon and doctor in Sociology, Pedro Rapozo, in an interview to CENARIUM attributes to the federal authorities the lack of support to the indigenous peoples.
“What has occurred within the point of view of violence and violation of the rights of indigenous peoples, in the Amazon, and throughout Brazil, particularly, is the result of a failure of public institutions and oversight processes,” he says.
Rapozo follows closely the socio-environmental situation of indigenous populations in the Amazon, and says he notices the absence of federal agencies in the villages. “We have been following in a more objective way this kind of dehydration of the agencies that should be responsible for these processes, among them FUNAI, the Federal Police, and the Armed Forces. Pedro’s speech coincides with the note published by the National Association of Environmental Servants.
In the text, signed by the executive board, the association recalls that despite having a mandate to inspect, Ibama has been ‘boycotted’ by the federal government. “The last time that Ibama staff worked in the Yanomami Indigenous Land was in December 2021. Around five months have gone by without any Ibama inspection action taking place there, despite the determination to do so.
Supporters of exploitation
Pedro recalls that not only the mines are exploited, but also other natural resources, and points out that where there is no inspection, the entry of external agents intensifies. “There is, today, a government committed to the exploitation of mining in indigenous territories, in an explicit way. Not only mining but also the expropriation of these territories, the exploitation of other resources besides mining. You have an institutional weakness in the inspection of these territories that should be the responsibility of the federal government, and, on the other hand, you have the increasing presence of external agents present in this location, moving, above all, a capital of resources resulting from other illegal activities”, he points out.
When it comes to environmental management and protection of the people, Ascema, like Pedro, states that the federal government is one of the biggest supporters of exploitation inside indigenous lands and denounces fines schemes that serve only to raise money for the Union.
“In addition to these setbacks in environmental management, normative changes and interpretations purposely mistaken, issued by the presidency of IBAMA, favor the prescription of thousands of processes of infraction notices, promoting a true amnesty in masses of violators punished by IBAMA, jeopardizing the effort of years of work of environmental supervision, as well as the collection of billions of reais in fines,” he writes.
In the note, the Association reports cases of persecution and harassment of Ibama and ICMBio employees, “especially those who work in environmental inspection. They also report that not even 10% of the vacancies for Environmental Analyst in the agencies have been filled, which causes a deficit in inspections.
“The lack of working conditions, with no prospect of improvement, the institutional harassment, and the lack of a consistent plan of action are reflected in the increase of criminal attacks on indigenous populations and the increase of deforestation in the Amazon, which set a new historical record for the month of April, according to Inpe,” they report.
Exploitation in Yanomami territory
Pedro Rapozo also recalls the action of drug trafficking within the Indigenous Lands (ITs). CENARIUM unveiled a report on the subject, in which, in addition to exploitation, the indigenous people reported sexual abuse, negative influence for alcohol consumption, and exploitation.
“We have the presence and agency of drug trafficking networks within a context of professionalization and organization in which these agents are more present than the institutional surveillance apparatus. So, these are elements that are connected: the absence of surveillance and institutional fragility,” he concludes.
Read the note in full:
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