Jacareacanga (dpa) – After the attack by illegal gold diggers on indigenous people in northern Brazil, the Supreme Court ordered the return of security forces to the area. The Brazilian news agency Agência Brasil reported on Monday evening (local time). The move is intended to help avoid invasions and new conflicts in the indigenous area.
Last week, the house of the indigenous leader Maria Leusa Munduruku was set on fire – she is an opponent of illegal gold mining among the indigenous people. The village of Fazenda Tapajós near Jacareacanga in the state of Pará was also shelled. Security forces had previously acted against illegal gold mining – called Garimpo – in the indigenous areas of the Munduruku, which the gold diggers also tried to prevent by force. After the operation ended on Friday, Maria Leusa Munduruku and other indigenous leaders left the village with their families and went to unknown locations.
Around 14,000 Munduruku live in the area, 8,000 of them in two indigenous areas near Jacareacanga. In the west of the Brazilian state of Pará, with around 200 pits, illegal gold mining is also concentrated in the Brazilian Amazon region. Some indigenous people work in gold mines on Munduruku territory, which creates internal conflicts. “Garimpeiros” had recently attacked the Yanomami indigenous people and the police.
According to the Brazilian newspaper “O Globo”, the destruction caused by gold mining at the Munduruku has increased by more than 360 percent in the past two years. Their protected territory is criss-crossed by deep craters and gold digger beds. In addition, the gold diggers pollute the water with mercury, which makes it into the food chain.
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