Ibama circumvented the military and used steel cables on the Yanomami – 10/14/2023 – Power

President Lula’s (PT) decision to travel to Roraima and announce his intention to combat illegal mining in Yanomami land, in the midst of a humanitarian crisis for indigenous people, provoked a rush in different ministries of his government, which was just 21 days old. that moment.

Authorities and high-ranking members of the state bureaucracy began to look for ways to put into practice a plan to remove the more than 20,000 invaders from indigenous land, who felt encouraged to commit criminal activity by Jair Bolsonaro’s (PL) pro-mining speech. Lula’s predecessor.

In the view of those who followed everything closely, the race was more about trying to gather some political capital in the face of the new president than about viable paths to a hypercomplex problem.

In the discussions that began to take place to facilitate deintrusion (removal of those who are not native to the place), there were members of the government who did not even know which are the main rivers that cross the territory.

It was decided, at interministerial levels, that the Armed Forces would kick off the disintrusion, in an operation coordinated with the Federal Police, Ibama (Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) and Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples).

An operation HQ was improvised at the PF superintendency in Boa Vista. More than two weeks after Lula’s visit and speech, nothing had happened.

Agents involved in actions to combat mining found that an initiative by the military could take another month. That was when Ibama, following a directive from Brasília, decided to break the agreement for a joint start of the operation and put into practice the first actions to combat mining.

The environmental agency, with support from Funai and the National Public Security Force, linked to the Ministry of Justice, began the operation on February 6. The official announcement took place on the 8th. On the 10th, the Armed Forces and PF went to the field to destroy illegal mining machinery and aircraft.

Disarticulation and clashes marked the first months of the operation, especially due to the military’s resistance to joining the actions once and for all.

Coordinators from Ibama and Funai decided, alone, to improvise a steel cable from bank to bank at a point on the Uraricoera River, in a place with a high concentration of mining sites.

The measure was not communicated to the Army and is recognized by federal police officers as the first successful act of disintrusion, as it forced a reduction in speed and more approaches by invader vessels at a strategic point.

The cable compensated, to some extent, for the fact that inspection vessels were less powerful than boats used by invaders.

The government was not only confused in the operation to remove miners.

The public health emergency actions, declared on January 20, began to be adopted without coordination and without effective leadership from any of the bodies involved. There was an improvisation of technicians from Fiocruz (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) leading this process.

The decision, then, was to create a committee — the COE (Emergency Operation Center).

The COE’s line of action was to centralize decisions, block access to the territory for non-health professionals —even though this went against the wishes of Yanomami leaders— and limit transparency. Until March, the number of deaths in indigenous land was omitted.

Funai, at the beginning of the emergency actions, did not have a de facto president.

Joenia Wapichana was traveling around Boa Vista without having been appointed president of the body, which only happened on February 1st. This made it difficult for Funai to make basic decisions. Coordination employees in Roraima ended up sidelined.

The disagreement was clear in the speeches of Lula’s ministers. On February 4, the Minister of Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajajara, said in Boa Vista: “We have this information that many miners are leaving. It’s good that they leave. It’s better for everyone if they leave without needing security force action “.

Four days later, also in the capital of Roraima, the Minister of Defense, José Mucio Monteiro, adopted a much milder tone regarding the treatment that the government should give to fleeing invaders: “We are concerned about not harming innocent people.”

Guajajara was next to the minister and modulated his speech: “The problem is historic and we won’t be able to resolve it in a week.”

When Lula signaled the removal of miners from indigenous land, Ibama already had an operational plan ready. If two trucks with fuel were able to be transported to the region, the agency would begin the plan without the military, according to the decision made.

One of the trucks was transported by ferry from Santarém (PA) to Manaus (AM). Then, he continued overland to the indigenous land region. With fuel available for the first flights, the plan began to be put into practice.

Investigators and inspection agents working to combat illegal mining in Yanomami land list situations in which the Armed Forces chose not to act.

There was a lack of flight time and fuel for the actions, especially at the beginning of the operation; low availability of aircraft on the ground, during actions to combat mining logistics; maintenance of material necessary for logistical bases in indigenous land at an air base; lack of effective air control, and resistance to the destruction of illegal mining equipment.

“There was no denial of logistical support,” said the Ministry of Defense, in a statement. “The operation is taking place under intense logistical effort, since, due to the large size of the area, fuel stations were established in the towns of Palimiú, Surucucu and Amajari”, he stated at the time.

Aircraft from the Armed Forces, Ibama and the PF were constantly refueled, according to the ministry. In the case of military aircraft, there had already been 6,900 flight hours and consumption of 4.5 million liters of fuel, Defense stated.

The risks in disintrusion actions where there could be confrontation, including the use of firearms, required a “prompt response” from aircraft and crew, according to the ministry, which would explain the low availability on the ground. “This procedure aims to guarantee the effectiveness of the action, should the suspects escape.”

The ministry also stated that the Armed Forces missions should always be accompanied by Ibama and the PF, whose agents are responsible for destroying illegal machinery.

“There was no refusal to load the aircraft for logistical support,” Defense said. According to the ministry, the operation resulted in the arrest of 146 miners; seizure of 808 pieces of equipment, 40 tons of cassiterite and 1,675 grams of gold; and the “neutralization” of illicit camps.

Eight months after the start of emergency actions in Yanomami land, problems persist.

The indigenous people now have access to health care that did not exist, with 870 professionals involved; most of the invaders were withdrawn; and the mined areas decreased by 78.5% in 2023, according to Defense. But illegal mining and the diseases associated with it continue.

Monitoring carried out by the PF shows the resilience and even the return of mining structures on the Uraricoera, Mucajaí and Couto Magalhães rivers. In the Auaris region, already close to the border with Venezuela, mining operations remain, with invaders constantly escaping into Venezuelan territory, according to federal police officers.

It is common to mine for gold at night, and return machines after equipment has been destroyed. At one point, for example, the PF destroyed 29 engines. When he returned to the area, there were already 12 new engines.

The latest bulletin released by the COE, dated August 25, records 190 deaths of Yanomami and indigenous people of other ethnicities in the territory throughout 2023. Almost half, 93, were children aged 0 to 4 years. Pneumonia, malnutrition, malaria and diarrhea were the main causes of deaths. The report also points to 15,900 cases of malaria and 6,100 cases of acute diarrhea in the indigenous land this year.

Only a constant occupation, with permanent inspection points, will guarantee the success of the operation in Yanomami land, according to agents working on the front line. If the security forces are absent, the miners return the next day, these agents say.