Brazil moves on illegal mines in Indigenous Yanomami territory
Issued on: 25/02/2023 - 23:08
Modified: 25/02/2023 - 23:06
2 min
Alto Alegre (Brazil) (AFP) – Brazilian authorities this week intensified their fight against illegal mining on the land of the Indigenous Yanomami people, sending helicopters over the Amazon jungle in search of clandestine dig sites.
From above, heavily armed police and officials from the Ibama environmental agency spot a camp: a brown patch of deforested land in the middle of the vast green carpet that is the Amazon.
There are improvised sleeping quarters, a kitchen, bathrooms. The sound of engines thrumming indicates the miners are not far away.
Government agents have already blocked illegal movement on the area's two main rivers, said Felipe Finger, an Ibama coordinator. "Now we are starting another phase -- to attack these mining operations, break up and neutralize these camps."
Spotting the helicopters, the "garimpeiros," or illegal miners, flee into the jungle, leaving behind sacks of cassiterite -- tin dioxide-rich ore known as "black gold" -- which they sell to commercial buyers.
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/mwFRQf3SqU7fwGat72mJYWthCPaYxZ6ymSdU2vk5-qKSnMEWErHuhxiShVrjbsMIsCwCsZ5vXQmOXNFMq5NKWFVwCskLt3hogrUK-MiPxA
'Nothing to eat'
In January, the federal police opened an investigation of possible genocide linked to the miners' abuse of the Yanomami and their resources.
More:
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230225-brazil-moves-on-illegal-mines-in-indigenous-yanomami-territory
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