'Miners out, Covid out': threats to indigenous reserve in Brazil grow
Illegal goldminers supported by Bolsonaro bring environmental destruction and coronavirus to Yanomami communities
Dom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro
Tue 29 Dec 2020 02.30 EST
A petition with 439,000 signatures demanding “miners out, Covid out” of the Yanomami reserve in Roraima state was handed to Brazil’s congress this month as shamanic images were projected on to the building’s exterior. With Covid-19 ravaging the Yanomami population since the first death from the disease was reported in April, the existence of the “garimpeiros”, or goldminers, has brought even greater threats to the reserve.
The estimated 20,000 miners were already blamed for bringing alcohol and prostitution into the Yanomami reserve, where they have worked illegally for decades, clearing forests and polluting rivers with mercury used in separating out the gold. The destruction wreaked by their work has increased since far-right president Jair Bolsonaro took office – and they have kept working during the pandemic.
“The garimpeiros are are the principal vector. They enter with light Covid symptoms and bring it to the Yanomami indigenous reserve,” says Dário Kopenawa, vice-president of the Yanomami association Hutukara and son of its director, Davi Kopenawa.
Last month, a report produced by indigenous associations and campaigners claimed a rise of more than 250% in Covid-19 cases in Yanomami territory from August through October. It counted 1,202 cases and 23 suspected Covid-19 deaths among the reserve’s 27,000 people.
More:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/dec/29/illegal-goldminers-brazil-indigenous-communities-garimpeiros-aoe
