Indigenous people are threatened amid the dispute over potassium – 05/10/2023 – Environment

“They told my vice-chieftain that they were going to shoot me in the face. There are nights when I don’t even sleep.” This is how tuxaua (chief) Sérgio Freitas do Nascimento Mura, 42, from the municipality of Autazes, in Amazonas, describes the death threats he has recently received, as well as other leaders from the Soares and Urucurituba villages.

The undemarcated indigenous land of the Mura people is at the center of the interests of agribusiness, members of the Lula government and local politicians, due to its potential as a potassium reserve for the national fertilizer industry. The discussion around the exploitation of the mineral, according to Mura leaders, triggered conflicts between non-indigenous people and the villages, where around 300 families live.

On April 28, the MPF-AM (Federal Public Ministry of Amazonas) made the threats public and asked for the inclusion of indigenous people in the state protection program in Amazonas.

The death threat to the Mura people is the third record of this type of violence against indigenous people in 20 days in the Amazon.

On April 16, four hooded men armed with rifles threatened a village of the Kanamari people, in the Javari Valley. The case was registered at the Atalaia do Norte police station.

In recent weeks, miners have murdered a Yanomami and shot two more in the Uxiú community, in Roraima. Eight other bodies were also found in the region – the cause of death is under investigation.

Sérgio Mura reports that the indigenous people came to be seen as an obstacle to the development of the municipality of Autazes. “They took away our peace,” he says.

In a low voice, speaking slowly and squeezing his fingers, the tuxaua narrates that fear made him lose sleep even on the day he would be at the MPF-AM, in Manaus, to report the threats. “I woke up two hours thinking about this route from there [aldeia Soares] Here [Manaus]. People never know.”

In the MPF auditorium, in addition to the press, there were city councilors and residents — some of whom were against the demarcation of the indigenous land.

The chieftain claims that the most recent threat to his life came through intimidation to the deputy chieftain of the Soares village, Vavá Izack Mura, 36.

Vavá says that a farmer from the region, simulating a hug, squeezed him and uttered threats. “He Said that if he staked out the land, one of us two [Vavá e Sérgio] he killed. I said his judgment was the master. But let him think, because what he could do to us, others could do to him”, he says.

Indigenous people under threat avoid moving outside their territory and away from their homes. “We walk together with our colleagues to see if it provides more security”, he explains.

The tuxaua from Urucurituba village, Salvador Mura, 51, also received messages from farmers. “They sent word that I’m going to be the next to leave the village”, he says.

The president of the Mura Indigenous Association, Cláudio Mura, says that the conflicts worsened after a visit by the Funai (National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples) team at the end of March, in response to the court decision for the demarcation of the land by the 1st Court of the Federal Judiciary Section from the Amazon.

For indigenous leaders, residents of the region who are against the demarcation and who are in favor of exploiting potassium are encouraged by fake news.

“They say that the only development is landowners, loggers and that there is no wall in Autazes. They put society against us. It is worrying because Autazes is dominated by other unpleasant situations and we can suffer an attack at any time”, says Cláudio Wall.

One of the first tuxauas in the Soares village, José Jair dos Santos Mura, 84, was pressured to leave the land and gave in. According to Jair, it was said that the land would be expropriated. He lost the farm and close contact with his relatives in the community.

Returning to the village now requires a cost that Jair Mura cannot afford. One of those who, 20 years ago, initiated the request for demarcation, the indigenous man says that today he needs to buy the food that was previously guaranteed in the territory.

“We ran out of means to work, everything got out of control. We bought a piece of land far away”, he says.

In addition to the visit by the Funai team, the period of heightened tension among the Mura was marked by statements pro-exploitation of potassium made by politicians from Amazonas and by the vice-president and minister of Development, Industry, Commerce and Services, Geraldo Alckmin ( PSB).

At a meeting in Manaus in March, Alckmin, who chairs the Confert (National Council for Fertilizers and Plant Nutrition), did not mention the indigenous issue when talking about the project for exploiting potassium. In a speech, he criticized the delay in defining which environmental agency is responsible for licensing.

At a press conference in Manaus, attorney Fernando Merloto countered Alckmin and said that given the decision that determines Funai to demarcate the indigenous land, the problem raised by the vice president as an impasse for mining is a minor issue. The attorney defends Ibama’s competence for involving an indigenous land.

For Merloto, the direct or indirect stimulus to conflict can make politicians investigated. He compared the process of exploiting potassium in Autazes to what happened in the construction of the Belo Monte plant, in Pará, which caused social and environmental disturbances for indigenous peoples and traditional residents during PT governments.

“The federal government needs to clarify. Mining on Yanomami land cannot, when it is mura it can. Wait a minute, we have to be consistent in our positions”, criticized the attorney.

Elder Jair Mura says he believes that before he dies he will see his land demarcated to ensure that younger people follow traditions. He claims to trust President Lula and says that, even without being forced, he went to the polls to vote in 2022 because the PT promised demarcation.

“They encouraged me and I voted. God willing, he [Lula] will help demarcate our land”, he says.

When contacted by the report, Funai and the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples did not respond.

_{The Planeta em Transe project is supported by the Open Society Foundations.}