Lula government records 190 Yanomami deaths this year

The task force of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s government in Yanomami territory has not been as effective in preventing the same pattern of deaths in previous years.

The most recent report from the Yanomami Emergency Operations Center (COE), of the Ministry of Health, released on September 26th, but with data up to August 25th, shows that 190 indigenous deaths have already been recorded in the region, with 93 (49%) are children under four years of age.

Infectious diseases (pneumonia – 44; malaria – 23; and tuberculosis – 3) are the main causes of deaths. Malnutrition also remains at very high levels – there were 28 deaths as of August 25th for this reason, 12 more than the survey released at the beginning of July. And the report also points out that around 133 deaths occurred in indigenous territory.

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

At the beginning of his term, the Lula government widely exploited the crisis in the region to erode the image of former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and enhance 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.

A report released at the beginning of August, carried out by three associations of the Yanomami people, pointed out that the actions of the PT government are not sufficient to prevent the action of miners in the area and improve the health of the indigenous people. The document warned of the increase in diseases and, consequently, the number of deaths, conflict between communities and the co-optation of young people into organized crime.