Brazil’s Yanomami leader asks the Pope to support President Lula in reversing damage to the Amazon
Vatican City AP Pope Francis met Wednesday with a leader of Brazil’s Yanomami people, who asked for papal backing for President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ’s efforts to reverse decades of exploitation of the Amazon and better protect its Indigenous peoples. Davi Kopenawa, a Yanomami shaman, said he came to the Vatican at Francis’ invitation to brief him […]
Study finds mercury contamination in Brazil’s Yanomami people
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Reuters Indigenous people from nine villages in Brazil’s Yanomami territory were found to be contaminated by mercury, with those living closer to illegal gold mining sites presenting higher levels of contamination, a study released on Thursday found. The study by Brazil’s state-run Fiocruz institute collected hair samples from about 287 Indigenous […]
Brazil Indigenous group’s crisis persists after 308 deaths in 2023, report says
Brasilia, Brazil Reuters The Brazilian Government’s effort to evict illegal gold miners from the Yanomami Indigenous reservation in the northern Amazon has stalled with outsiders increasingly invading the vast territory, Yanomami leaders said on Friday. The Hutukara Yanomami Association released a report on the year since President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a humanitarian […]
Illegal mining: Gold diggers bring fresh wave of suffering to Brazil’s Yanomami
UESLEI MARCELINO, of Reuters, reports on how, a year after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva declared a humanitarian crisis among the Yanomami and vowed zero tolerance for illegal mining, environmental enforcers are warning that Brazil is jeopardising last year’s hard-won progress…
Brazil’s Indigenous population double the size previously recorded – census
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Brazil has 1.69 million Indigenous people, almost twice as many as previously acknowledged by the state, according to numbers announced on Monday by the national statistics agency IBGE from the 2022 census. In 2010, the IBGE had counted 896,917 Indigenous people. Vanderlecia Ortega dos Santos, or Vanda, from the Witoto Indigenous people, attends […]
Brazil to step up removal of Indigenous land invaders after Yanomami killing
Brasilia, BrazilReuters Brazil will increase efforts to remove the remainder of wildcat miners from indigenous lands following a shooting attack by invaders that killed a Yanomami Indigenous person and left two others seriously injured, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples said on Sunday. An inter-ministerial delegation is en route to Roraima state to “further reinforce actions […]
Brazil’s largest Indigenous reservation overrun by illegal gold mining, says report
Brasilia Reuters An illegal gold mining boom on Brazil’s largest Indigenous reservation has brought disease, violence and grave human rights violations on the Yanomami people, according to research and allegations included in a new report on Monday, blaming high gold prices and tacit government support. The report by the Hutukara Yanomami Association found a 46 […]
“Favorable conditions”: Malaria surges in the Amazon as wildcat mining devours Indigenous land
FABIO ZUKER, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how, by carving massive holes in the earth and disrupting local ecosystems, illegal gold miners in the Amazon create the perfect breeding conditions for the mosquito-transmitted disease…