Thousands of miners began to flee the Yanomami reservation after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva last week ordered an airspace exclusion zone, preventing the circulation of the planes they use to transport food and supplies.
Some are undertaking the strenuous journey on foot. Others, down the Uraricoera River, crammed into long, narrow boats, sometimes carrying as many as 30 passengers.
Justice Minister Flavio Dino said Monday that the government is deploying more than 500 police and soldiers to drive out the miners, along with their cooks, prostitutes, and other groups lured into the jungle by the gold rush.
The authorities hope that by the time the police begin forcibly evicting them, “at least 80%” of the 15,000 invaders has left on their own.
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As a first step, the environmental agency Ibama said on Wednesday that it had begun destroying assets confiscated at the mines, including a helicopter, a small plane and an excavator.
At the same time, the Roraima Military Police launched the call “Operation Exodus”for “intensify” their presence and prevent “disorders” with the local population during the flight of the “garimpeiros”
The Yanomami reserve, the largest indigenous territory in Brazil, is one of several reserves that suffered a massive influx of miners during the government of former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2022), whom environmentalists accuse of encouraging invasions.
The Federal Police opened an investigation in January for possible “genocide” against the Yanomami after the publication of an official report that reported the death of a hundred children under five years of age last year due to malnutrition and other causes.
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The “real criminals”
The government operation has generated tensions in the region, which has seen an economy proliferate around the extraction of illegal gold.
In the clandestine market of Roraima, a gram of gold sells for 280 reais (USD 55).
The AFP came across miners carrying up to 30 grams each.
At a local gas station, a clandestine plane pilot showed reporters a handful of glittering gold that he had received as payment for one of his flights. He was worried that it would have been the last, since since the no-fly zone was imposed he has not been able to work.
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Locals fear the impact of a flood of newly unemployed.
The authorities have urged the invaders to withdraw voluntarily. But Dino promised to prosecute “all those who committed crimes such as genocide, environmental crimes, financing illegal mining and money laundering.”
To a 58-year-old gold prospector, who asked to be identified only by the nickname of “Parmalat”, He resents being treated like a criminal, while crimes like corruption often go unpunished, he says.
“They treat us like we are worthless.”
“We are workers and they treat us like criminals. True criminals are not treated like this.”said.
Source: AFP
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Source: Gestion
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