Brazil: towards the end of gold mining in Yanomami territory.

The closer the elections are, the more Jair Bolsonaro softens his ecological position.

The time for election promises will soon come. Here is one that the Brazilian leader has just made to the Yanomami natives whom he has always regarded with hatred and contempt. He promised yesterday in a video that he intends to put an end to the exploitation of the mines located on the territories of the Indians. He said, " If you don't want mines, there won't be mines." Even adding that he was ready to use the army if necessary in order to ensure that their rights were respected.

In reality, this change of attitude by Bolsonaro is not so much a spontaneous and compassionate step as a court decision handed down by a judge of the Supreme Court of Brazil ordering the government to take "the necessary measures" to protect the Indians. .

Until recently, Bolsonaro found no fault with the relentless invasion of Indian lands by illegal miners. These lands are rich in gold and attract greed. We remember Marinaldo, Amerindian leader Yanomami, declaring from his threatened reserve about the “garimpeiros” (gold diggers): “There are 20,000 invaders on our lands today! We are always afraid. "

The indigenous Yanomami occupy the largest reserve in the country with 96,000 km² and some 27,000 inhabitants. Their representatives and environmental organizations have since 2020 denounced the illegal exploitation of land and warned of the threats weighing on indigenous peoples. The extreme tension which has reigned for many years on their territory has never moved the Brazilian president; remaining faithful to its disastrous environmental policy and its lack of scruples in favoring the destruction of the Amazon rainforest. The search for gold is, moreover, one of the main causes.

Auaris region and Yanomami territory

2022 is fast approaching and the polls are not in favor of Bolsonaro. Currently overwhelmed in his country for its calamitous management of the health crisis, it is difficult to think that the recent promises made to the Yanomami people are not yet another political maneuver. It would be interesting to ask Chef Raoni for his opinion!