Photos of Alessandra and images of the burglary available here
Oakland, CA – Last Saturday, Brazilian Indigenous leader Alessandra Korap Munduruku had her house invaded in the Amazonian city of Santarém, days after returning from the COP26 summit in Glasgow. Alessandra was not at home with her family at the time of the invasion, precisely out of fear for her safety. The intruders stole documents, memory cards from security cameras, and money that Alessandra had been saving for an assembly of the Munduruku people planned for December.
When Alessandra returned from Glasgow last Tuesday, a suspicious man claiming to work for a local energy company cut off her home’s power for “maintenance” reasons. After the power was restored, she felt concerned about her and her children’s safety and opted to stay at an acquaintance’s home instead. Early Saturday morning, her house was burglarized and vandalized. This is the second invasion of Alessandra’s home in two years and appears to be directly related to her activism, a theory that was shared with her by Federal Police agents who inspected her home on Saturday morning.
“They went into the house again, again. I was feeling that something was going to happen, that’s why I had to leave Santarém,” shared Alessandra in a voice message. “There was something strange going on around me and I [thought] I’m not going to sleep here with my kids.”
While at COP26, Alessandra publicly denounced the Brazilian government and a range of private sector and organized criminal actors that threaten and destroy Munduruku lands and wellbeing with impunity. She criticized the governor of Pará state, Helder Barbalho, who was also at the summit, condemning the social and environmental impacts of the projects he backs, including industrial and illegal mining, hydroelectric plants, and the Ferrogrão grain railroad.
As a result of her statements, Alessandra suffered online abuse, much like the young Brazilian indigenous activist Txai Suruí, who spoke at the opening of the COP26 about violence against Indigenous peoples and the importance of centering their voices in climate negotiations. Txai received death threats on social media after President Jair Bolsonaro urged his supporters to attack her.
“They are trying to silence me as always, but as I listen to the women, the chiefs, the shamans and I know we have to continue resisting,” wrote Alessandra, on Monday, on her social networks. “We have to take care of our Mother Earth, as much as she takes care of us without charging anything. What are we doing for her? We are doing everything to defend the Earth and this is annoying many people, but I can’t be silent.”
Saturday’s burglary followed another similar attack in November 2019, when invaders took a computer, pen drives, cell phone, memory cards, and reports on the activities and research of the Munduruku people. The week prior to this event Alessandra had accompanied Munduruku chiefs to Brasilia to denounce the increase in invasions by loggers and miners on Munduruku lands.
“This renewed attack on Alessandra Munduruku is an attempt to intimidate and silence one of Brazil’s most powerful Indigenous voices, who has fought tirelessly against those driving Amazon destruction,” said Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch Program Director. “The Brazilian government must put an end to violence against Indigenous land defenders, or expose its clear complicity with their criminal behavior.”
Background
Alessandra Korap Munduruku is a warrior and an active voice in the defense of Indigenous rights. She won the 2020 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award for her work defending the culture, livelihoods, and rights of Brazil’s Indigenous peoples.
Threat alerts have been reported since 2017
The Federal Public Prosecutors from Pará state have denounced the invasion of Munduruku lands and threats against Indigenous leaders since 2017. This year, the situation of violence against the Munduruku has become more acute. On June 9, the miners slashed the tires of a bus meant to transport Munduruku leaders from Jacareacanga, Pará, to planned protests in Brasília, and threatened to set the bus on fire.
On May 26, during a major Federal Police operation to remove illegal gold miners from Munduruku Territory, armed invaders attacked a Munduruku village, firing shots and targeting key leaders opposed to illegal mining on their lands. During the attack, two houses were set on fire including the house of Maria Leusa Kaba, coordinator of the Wakoborum Women’s Association, and that of the village Chief.
Brazil saw 61% spike in murders of Indigenous people in 2020
According to the Report Violence Against Indigenous Peoples in Brazil – 2020, released by the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) in October this year, violence against Brazil’s Indigenous people increased 61 percent compared to 2019. There were 182 murders of Indigenous people in 2020, compared to 113 murders in 2019. The deaths were accompanied by an increase in land grabbing, invasions for illegal extraction of natural resources, and damage to indigenous heritage. There were 263 reported land invasions and an increase of 137 percent over incursions on indigenous territory the previous year. According to CIMI, in 2020, territorial conflicts affected 145 people spread over more than 200 Indigenous lands in all stages of the land demarcation process. illegal loggers, hunters, fishermen, ranchers, and miners “act with the assurance of the connivance – often explicit – of the government” in all spheres, from municipal to federal, including the legislative, attests the research.
The report blamed the government for failing to protect Indigenous communities while pushing legislation that would open their territories to commercial mining, oil and gas exploration, and the building of hydroelectric dams. In addition to encouraging forest fires, the Bolsonaro government has encouraged invasions by miners in different regions of the Amazon, with the most dramatic cases in Yanomami and Munduruku lands, with rivers contaminated by mercury.
