In Brazil, companies, mining, and environmental destruction of indigenous communities struggling in the face of the threat to their country. In some cases, it is a question of Survival.
At the beginning of the year, Ageu Lobo Perreira had to flee. The head of the indigenous community Montanha-had Mangabal know in the Amazon region, that his life and the lives were threatened by two members of the community. As the warning came, was Perreira on the road to mark the boundaries of their territory, had also been registered by the government.
On their Land they had found evidence of illegal mining. Also, the water was partially poisoned by residue from the gold mining. The gold rush saw the marking work, their livelihood threatened, says Perreira. Their message was clear: If you Perreira or other members of the community in the way, they would kill you. Montanha-Mangabal is located on the Tapajos river, near the city of Itaituba in Northern Brazil.
“In the first Phase of the process have threatened us, illegal loggers,” says the head of the community. “In the second, we came to small miners. They realized that would not be reindeer their activities and threatened us.”
Perreira hid for a month, while the Federal police began to interview the miners. As a result, the voltages were even greater.
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After his return, the municipality turned to the Brazilian authorities, in the hope of support. “We have asked for controls and investigations. Now we hope that this will really happen,” says Perreira. He adds that the authority for land rights, had failed to comply with Brazil’s national Institute for colonization and agrarian reform (INCRA), the obligation to mark their territory. He believes that the already isolated community had become even more vulnerable.
Old traditions that go back to the gold rush
Mining plays an important role in the Federal state of Pará, in the municipality of Montanha & Mangabal. Since the 1980s, the gold has devastated the noise all the tracts of land.
Gone are the days, when hundreds rushed to the open pit mines to make their fortune, as it shows a picture of the photographer Sebastiao Salgado in a dramatic way. However, both local residents as well as scientists continue to report polluted rivers, the back still goes on, today’s mining activity.
“The mining machines has a tragic impact,” says Perreira. Heavy vehicles such as excavators and dredgers, are used in large-scale mining, are destroying the forest, the countless animals, including tapirs and jaguars, the home of.
Even the removal in the smaller mines in the area has an impact on the environment and the health of the people.
“To the fine gold, which is now being mined, is the best with mercury,” says Jose Pacheco Peleja, who directs the laboratory for environmental biology at the State University of West Para.
If you are using mercury to separate Gold from other substances in the soil, it can seep into soil and water and foods grow there, poison. It is exposed to the heavy metal over a longer period of time, it can cause massive damage to your health.
More and more murders
In 2013, the government Agency INCRA in the municipality of Montanha gave Mangabal a Status that gives them the right to their traditional lands, so that the people can lead their traditional life as hunters, fishers and gatherers. The residents had fought for a long time. They operate according to their own information, no mining.
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Nevertheless, they say that they enjoy hardly any protection, and again and again in the face of violent threats from agro-industry, mining and woodcutter must fight back. The Problem is exacerbated in addition, because the Budget was cut for the National Foundation for Indigenous Affairs (FUNAI) and the environmental program of Brazil in 2017 dramatically.
INCRA says that she is working with the Montanha-Mangabal, using GPS to mark their territory
It is a story that is happening everywhere in Brazil. The Catholic Church led Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT), the murders recorded in connection with land disputes, says that in 2017, one of the most brutal years had been for a long time. The number of murders increased in comparison to the previous year by 15 percent.
In the state of Para, it was the worst. In connection with land disputes there, 21 people were murdered.
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The Federal police, for cases of land invasion and illegal land use jurisdiction, would not comment on this in the Interview. INCRA says to DW, they are working limits to the marking of the property and 30 kilometers of the border had to be marked. The work should be resumed in October.
The authority also investigates the municipality of Montanha-Mangabal to create an inventory of existing buildings, such as houses and wells. In addition, they captured the inhabitants. So far, you have identified 5 miners, which belonged to the municipality.
A deep-rooted conflict between Locals and Miners
To mark the boundaries, will not solve all the problems of the municipality in terms of land invasion. Especially if new, large-scale infrastructure collide projects with the land rights of the indigenous communities and impact on the environment, says Marco Antonio Silva Lima. He is head of the Department of science and technology, Secretariat of science, technology, professional and technical education in the state of Para.
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“These conflicts are historically,” said Silva Lima compared to the DW. “Currently there are huge investments in logistical systems, in order to transport soy and to build dams for water power plants. And that makes the conflict that there is, anyway, much worse. This is really worrying.”
Indigenous communities such as the Munduruku have been protesting for years against dams and hydroelectric power plants on the Tapajos river
Against the resistance of conservationists and indigenous groups, is planning to Brazil for the construction of several dams in the basin of the Tapajos river. They say that the dams would inundate a species-rich Ecosystem, which is rich in plants and animals.
In order to protect indigenous groups, calls for Silva Lima, a strategic development plan for the Tapajos Region, the alternative Jobs for small miners and lumberjacks would create.
“From my point of view, actors at the local, national and Federal state level have to be involved, to have mechanisms for dialogue,” says Silva Lima. The communities could only survive if their voice is being heard by business and government.