After 5 months of Lula’s government, deaths of Yanomamis remain the same

Summary of this report:

• According to data from the Ministry of Health released this week, 129 indigenous people residing in Yanomami Land have already died in 2023; there are several records of preventable causes of death, such as malnutrition, pneumonia and tuberculosis.
• Since January, the federal government has carried out a task force with the aim of reducing lack of assistance in the region, which covers part of the states of Roraima and Amazonas. For specialists, there are chronic problems in the region that have lasted for years and do not have a simple solution.
• At the beginning of his term, Lula (PT) linked the high mortality and rates of malnutrition and disease among the Yanomami to an attempt at “genocide” by the previous government, Jair Bolsonaro.
• If the mortality rate maintains the growth registered until June, at the end of 2023 the number of deaths in the first year of the Lula government will exceed the deaths registered in 2021 and 2022.

Just over five months after the federal government declared a public health emergency in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, the situation of lack of health care in the villages remains dramatic and with the same pattern of deaths as in previous years. In 2023, 129 deaths of indigenous people in the region have already been recorded, 56 (43.4%) of which are children under four years of age, as shown in the most recent report from the Yanomami Emergency Operations Center (COE), of the Ministry of Health, released last Saturday (24).

Infectious diseases (pneumonia, malaria and tuberculosis) are the main causes of death, but malnutrition continues at very high levels – there have been 16 deaths so far for this reason.

By way of comparison, over the course of 2022, 209 deaths were recorded, while in 2021 there were 249. If the numbers are maintained until now, by the end of this year the number of deaths would exceed the average for the years 2018 to 2022 (excluding 2020, peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the number of deaths was impacted by the virus), which is 238 per year.

The numbers point to a much greater difficulty than expected by the Lula government in reversing a serious health condition that has plagued the Yanomami for several years – as shown by a report by the People’s Gazetteunfavorable data regarding the mortality of Yanomami indigenous people are common in all governments since the 2000s.

Despite this, at the beginning of the term, the Lula government widely exploited the crisis in the region to undermine the image of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and value the current administration. In addition to President Lula (PT), Minister Flávio Dino, of Justice and Public Security, even used the high number of deaths among Yanomami to suggest that there was an ongoing genocide by the previous government.

In the Chamber, PT deputies filed a criminal representation with the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) against Bolsonaro in which they claimed that there would be a “policy of extermination of the Yanomami peoples and other indigenous communities conducted with gallantry and pleasure by the former president of the Republic”.

Also in February, after Flávio Dino asked for an investigation into the case, Minister Luís Roberto Barroso, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), ordered the opening of an investigation by Bolsonaro government authorities for alleged genocide of Yanomami indigenous people.

Lula government exploited Yanomami crisis to wear down Bolsonaro

In early 2023, images of indigenous people in a serious situation of malnutrition and illness in the Yanomami Land multiplied on social networks and brought strong social commotion, especially since most of the cases involved children under five years of age. The high number of indigenous people infected with malaria and other diseases, such as pneumonia and acute diarrhea, also made headlines in the newspapers.

A report on an environmental news site critical of the previous government, with several photos of indigenous people in a precarious situation, is what attracted the interest of the government and the press to the situation of the Yanomami. The website narrated that during the Bolsonaro government, 570 Yanomami children under the age of 5 died in the territory from “avoidable deaths”, that is, preventable by the actions of health services.

However, the necessary attention from the Executive to the serious situation of the villages was mixed with a strong attempt at self-promotion by the Lula government and political wear and tear by Bolsonaro. On January 22, the day after visiting Roraima, Lula called the situation of the Yanomamis a “genocide”, said that the tragedy of the indigenous people was a “premeditated crime” committed “by a government insensitive to the suffering of the Brazilian people” and cited the transmission of malaria as one of the main causes of this genocide.

Days later, the Lula government fired dozens of Funai employees who had been there since the previous administration. The government also took the opportunity to establish controversial measures, such as the prohibition of carrying out any religious activities with indigenous peoples, as well as the use of clothes with religious images or expressions – a measure pointed out by jurists as unconstitutional and riddled with religious intolerance.

For experts heard by People’s Gazettethe high number of Yanomami deaths in 2023 does not point to an ongoing “genocide” by the Lula government, just as this crime was not committed during the Bolsonaro administration.

“It’s a much bigger problem than the current government thought it was. Even with the announced actions, the number of deaths has not decreased and unfortunately will not decrease, because this is not a problem of lack of attention from a government, it is a chronic problem that drags on for many years, for different causes”, says Samuel Souza, former director of environmental protection at Ibama, who worked directly in operations to combat illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land.

Illegal mining, organized crime and access difficulties make reversal of the scenario more challenging

The state of lack of health care faced by the Yanomami is a reflection of several causes, which include the difficulty of access by public authorities in the villages; by illegal mining, with direct consequences for the health of indigenous peoples; the presence of criminal factions in the region; and by cultural habits of the Yanomami common to other ethnic groups, such as nomadism and the lower priority given to children in food distribution, already scarce in the region.

Regarding access difficulties, the Yanomami Land has almost 100,000 square kilometers of forest and rivers, where 31,000 indigenous people live. The space is equivalent to almost 40% of the area of ​​the state of São Paulo and is larger than several Brazilian states, such as Santa Catarina, Rio de Janeiro and Paraíba. The area occupies part of the states of Roraima and Amazonas, in the north of the country, and borders with Venezuela.

Access to most of the 376 villages for the distribution of medicines and food is quite challenging and needs to be done by plane, which means that the inputs do not arrive in the required quantity and time. In addition, the habit of several indigenous tribes of not staying in the same place for a long time makes it even more difficult for the government to monitor these groups.

Another critical problem faced by the Yanomami, the generalized conditions of malnutrition, have aggravating factors that go beyond the difficulties of access by the government to deliver food. Cultural aspects of the Yanomami establish that young men are the first to eat, followed by the elders who command the community. Then come working women and elderly people without leadership positions, and lastly, non-working women and children.

“Their food is already scarce and low in nutrients, and the fact that the children are the last in line leaves them in a very difficult situation. Furthermore, among the women who do not work there are pregnant women, so the Yanomami child already has a pregnancy with a mother who has a food deficit,” explains the former director of Ibama.

Illegal mining, on the other hand, is another chronic problem in the region, and is responsible for various losses to local populations, mainly due to the contamination of rivers by the mercury used to separate the gold from the gravel. As a consequence, the consumption of fish by the Yanomami results in high levels of mercury contamination.

But the activity of illegal mining has an aggravating factor: criminal factions, such as the PCC and Comando Vermelho, command these activities and entice the indigenous people themselves to work in the mining, or offer items such as weapons, alcohol and drugs in exchange for permission to operate in the area without the resistance of the local population.

To make matters worse, the presence of organized crime in the region has nothing to do with mining alone: ​​the region is strategic for sending drugs abroad and importing weapons. “The trafficking route, which left Colombia and came to Manaus, then Fortaleza or Belém to go to Europe, went up. Now it’s Colombia, Venezuela and Terra Yanomami, leaving for Suriname and Guyana. The factions have a logistical support infrastructure that they need to maintain, so they don’t leave the place,” says Samuel Souza.

“The government says it’s zeroing in on mining, but that’s not true. That’s impossible, because it’s not just miners, it’s traffickers with heavy weapons who don’t want to leave. The problem there is a war situation. As long as there is no serious federal intervention to vacate these places, it will not be resolved”, he continues.

Yanomami leader says government prioritizes only one region and press has abandoned coverage

Since the beginning of the task force, the government has focused its efforts on increasing the distribution of food and medicine and expanding medical care to indigenous people – so far, around 25,000 consultations have been carried out at the basic health centers spread across the region, according to the Ministry of health. At the same time, there are actions coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) to keep prospectors away from the region.

On June 22, Minister Flávio Dino stated that the task force’s repression agencies had destroyed 323 mining camps and 151 garimpeiro rafts since January. The government believes that there has been a 90% reduction in illegal mining in Yanomami Land.

However, there is dissatisfaction on the part of the indigenous people, who point out that there is a concentration of government assistance services in the indigenous area of ​​Surucucu, located in Roraima, while the other regions remain in a similar situation to before the start of the task force. The government’s slowness in combating organized crime is also questioned.

“The number of deaths that remains as high as before shows that there is no health action that meets the needs of our villages”, says Alberto Brazão Goes, Yanomami leader and former president of the District Council for Indigenous Health (Condisi). “This emergency coordination should be broad, in both states, but they are focusing on the Surucucu region. There yes, relieved a lot. But deaths, mainly of children, continue to rise because other regions of Yanomami territory continue to be forgotten,” he laments.

The lack of assistance in other locations led to a decision by the Federal Court, issued on the 19th, which determined that the Lula government should reduce the social vulnerability of Amazonian indigenous people who make long journeys to cities in search of social benefits, in conditions of insecurity food and at risk of death. The judge stated that the government must act to prevent the hunger of the indigenous people, guarantee an immediate solution to the demands and ensure logistical support in the villages.

“The government exploited this alarm that occurred in our lands, but it remained in political use. In my community, Maturacá, with more than three thousand Yanomamis, there is a lack of medication, a lack of professionals, a lack of supplies. I, who have Yanomami skin, get angry. It’s just a maneuver for the media to elevate a government. Now even the press has forgotten about it”, declares Alberto Goes.

Other side

A People’s Gazette sent questions to Funai, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples about the situation of the Yanomami and the Lula government’s task force. Funai sent a link that directs to news of the agency’s actions in the region, but did not respond to questions. The Health and Indigenous Peoples folders, on the other hand, did not send any feedback until the closing of this report.