New York, NY – A new exposé published today by the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB) and Amazon Watch shows that the supply chains of technology, electronics, and automotive leaders, such as Apple, Tesla, Samsung, Microsoft, Intel, Sony, Volkswagen, Ford, and General Motors, could be tainted by Brazilian gold illegally mined in Amazonian Indigenous territories. Findings in Complicity in Destruction V: Blood Gold show that these companies are supplied by two refineries under investigation by Brazilian authorities for their ties to illegal mining. Meanwhile, nearly all gold refineries in countries that import the majority of Brazil’s gold – Canada, Switzerland, and Italy – are also listed among their suppliers, implying that their products could include this conflict commodity. It is estimated that 47% of Brazil’s gold exports are of illegal origin.
Illegal Amazon gold mining has soared under Brazil’s Bolsonaro government. Its impacts on highly preserved Indigenous territories – particularly those of the Yanomami, Munduruku, and Kayapó peoples – are immeasurable, as wildcat miners scour streams and riverbeds, causing deforestation and polluting critical freshwater resources with sediments and toxic mercury. These activities have driven a spike in deadly illnesses such as malaria and mercury poisoning, and social conflicts such as violence, drug trafficking, the sexual predation of Indigenous women and girls, and murder. As a result of this crisis, Indigenous communities are suffering a multifaceted emergency, as their health, safety, territories, and cultural integrity are under assault.
“Illegal mining never arrives alone,” said Dinamam Tuxá, APIB’s Executive Coordinator. “It always brings conflicts, diseases, the pollution of rivers, violence to Indigenous communities, especially women and children, and violation of our territories and rights. We are witnessing the destruction of ecosystems and entire communities, and people are dying as a result of this deadly industry. [Mining’s] viability requires a consumer market that finances its destruction. This exposé provides groundbreaking findings that identify leading companies potentially complicit in illegal Amazon mining. We now call on these corporate giants to prove that they are not buying gold extracted from our lands.’
“We are currently experiencing a critical moment of terrible conflicts, with many land invaders inside our territory introduced by the miners,” said Alessandra Korap Munduruku, President of the Munduruku’s Pariri Association. “Illegal mining contaminates rivers with mercury, and the mercury contaminates the fish and our bodies. Mining kills and displaces people from their land. It only knows how to destroy. We will never negotiate our territory, the life of our people, our children, our women, elders, shamans, and sacred places that mining destroys. We don’t need gold. We need life.”
“The Indigenous peoples of the Amazon are the true guardians of the forest, and our rights must be respected,” said Toya Manchineri, Coordinator with the Coordination of the Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB). “Mining is one of today’s main causes of violence against Indigenous peoples and of the destruction of forests and rivers. No company that is involved in any way with gold mined from Indigenous lands can be considered an ally in the fight against climate change.”
“Household brands in the technology, electronics, and electric vehicle sector must not enable the disastrous and tragic impacts of illegal gold mining on the Amazon and its peoples,” said Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch Program Director. “Their failure to act in the face of proven supply chain links to this illicit industry will expose them to financial, legal, and reputational risks. Conscientious consumers will not abide by using products stained with Indigenous blood and irreparable ecosystem destruction. These companies must therefore prove that they do not buy illegal gold from Brazil.”
This evening, September 19, from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm, these Brazilian Indigenous leaders will join members of Amazon Watch to host an official Climate Week panel to explore these breaking findings titled: “Blood gold: Is your cell phone or electric car stained with indigenous blood from the Amazon?” The panel will discuss the destruction, violence, and attacks against Amazonian Indigenous communities caused by illegal miners and the complicity of global companies in this illicit trade. Amazon Watch Program Director Christian Poirier will present the new findings and Amazon Watch Brazil Program Director Ana Paula Vargas will moderate the discussion.
