UPDATE: In an interview given to the news agency Amazônia Real, published on June 8, Indigenous leader Júnior Hekurari, who is the president of the Urihi Yanomami Association and the Yanomami Indigenous District Health Council (Condisi-Y), reported that the young girl’s body was found and handed over to the family for funeral rites. Hekurari explained that illegal miners on Yanomami lands are enticing local Indigenous people and providing them with weapons. According to him, the shots that wounded five were fired by an Indigenous person armed by the illegal miners. The report also states that the Federal Police corroborate Hekurari’s statement, assessing that illegal miners remaining in the Indigenous territory are arming community members and causing divisions and conflicts among the villages.
An April 2022 report prepared by the Hutukara Yanomami Association previously warned that in addition to land invasions, illegal gold miners were undertaking a strong harassment campaign to lure indigenous people, especially the youth, in order to encourage them to get involved with mining activities.
“The enticers approach indigenous people in frequented places where they receive health care, perform banking services or to buy agricultural tools, clothes, hygiene materials among other items,” says a passage from the document.
The recent attacks within the Yanomami Indigenous land show that the garimpo (illegal wildcat mining) is in full swing and provides a warning sign that the area is not under the control of security forces, as announced by the federal government.
In June, the Hutukara Yanomami Association (HAY) challenged the optimistic reports from Lula’s government authorities that the advancement of garimpo had decreased. The entity finds it worrisome to make this type of announcement just a few months after the start of the operation to remove the illegal miners.
Yesterday, Brazil’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples disclosed that a Yanomami child was killed and five other community members were wounded in a shooting by suspected illegal gold miners at Parima village in Yanomami Indigenous Land, in the Amazonian state of Roraima, on Monday, July 3, 2023.
Júnior Hekurari, president of the Yanomami and Ye’kwana Indigenous District Health Council (CONDISI-YY), identified the wounded as a 48-year-old tribal leader, a 24-year-old woman, her 5-year-old daughter, and two girls aged 15 and 9. Hekurari revealed that the child who lost her life was a 7-year-old girl, sister to the two other injured children, who was reportedly plunged into a river and went missing.
Following the attack, members from the Federal Police and National Public Security Force, officials from the National Indigenous Peoples Foundation (FUNAI), and the National Public Health Force were dispatched to the region. The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) reported that the five wounded individuals received medical care, and a military helicopter was deployed from the city of Boa Vista for assistance.
The circumstances surrounding the attack and those responsible for the violence have yet to be confirmed. However, it is suspected that illegal miners were involved. While the majority of the tens of thousands of illegal miners that had invaded Yanomami territory were recently driven out by the concerted actions of Brazilian Federal agencies, many remain in the region and have reportedly modified their operations by using their proximity to the Venezuelan border to evade Brazilian authorities.
The Yanomami face a multifaceted health, security, and socio-environmental crisis as a result of years of mounting land invasions, illegal mining, and neglect at the hands of federal authorities. While the Lula government has made efforts to contain this crisis and expel the miners, deadly conflicts continue to unfold in the region.
Christian Poirier, Amazon Watch Program Director, said: “This tragic attack demonstrates the Brazilian authorities’ ongoing challenges in containing illegal mining on Brazil’s Indigenous territories and guaranteeing the Yanomami community’s safety. Immediate action is needed to dismantle the criminal networks plaguing these territories and bring their political and entrepreneurial enablers to justice. Additionally, the international buyers of Brazilian gold – including major global brands in the jewelry, technology, and automotive sectors – must also do their part in eliminating this conflict commodity from supply chains. Anything less is complicity with genocidal violence.”
