Brazil to bolster security for Yanomami territory in Amazon rainforest

According to officials on Tuesday, Brazil will increase security and support initiatives for the Yanomami area, which includes ancestral territories that have long been the target of a variety of illicit operations mostly driven by wildcat gold mining. This year, the government plans to invest 1.2 billion reais ($245 million) on security and aid for the Yanomami area, Brazil’s largest Indigenous reserve situated near the Venezuelan border. As part of the proposal, a local security headquarters will be established with the objective of unifying federal security initiatives against wildcat gold mining, which is a major issue in the area. Illegal gold miners have been invading the Yanomami region, which is about the same size as Portugal, for decades. However, in recent years, the damaging intrusions have increased as a result of the dismantling of environmental protection measures by the former president Jair Bolsonaro. The illegal mining and deforestation have also exacerbated a humanitarian crisis in the territory, marked by malnutrition and other diseases like malaria, as well as sexual abuse. The rivers that dot the Yanomami lands have also faced mercury pollution that is especially harmful to area wildlife. Around 31,000 Indigenous people live in the territory, most of whom are Yanomami, but members of the Ye’kwana community are also present. A year ago, leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched an emergency operation to expel thousands of wildcat gold miners, known locally as garimpeiros, and assist Indigenous communities. Rui Costa, Lula’s Chief of Staff, described the plan as a next phase that is “implementing permanent and structural measures in that region,” in comments following a government meeting that discussed the matter. Other measures include food distribution and a new health center that will focus on Indigenous medical needs. ($1 = 4.8996 reais)