Petistas ask MPF to investigate Bolsonaro for “Yanomami genocide”

Deputies from the Workers’ Party (PT) called the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) this Sunday (22) with a request for an investigation into former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) and former minister Damares Alves (Republicanos-DF), who commanded the Ministry of Women, Family and Human Rights, for allegedly committing the crime of genocide against Yanomami indigenous people.

The authors of the complaint are Reginaldo Lopes (MG), current PT leader in the Chamber; Zeca Dirceu (PR), who will assume the leadership of the bench on February 1st; Alencar Santana (SP) and Maria do Rosário (RS).

This Friday (20), the Ministry of Health declared a state of emergency to combat the lack of health care that affects the ethnic group in the state. According to the government, the health crisis has resulted in the deaths of 570 children due to malnutrition and health issues in recent years. A delegation from the federal government, with President Lula (PT) and nine ministers of his government, traveled to the state of Roraima this Saturday morning (21st) to verify the situation of the indigenous people.

This Sunday, Lula accused the Bolsonaro government of crimes against indigenous peoples. “More than a humanitarian crisis, what I saw in Roraima was a genocide. A premeditated crime against the Yanomami, committed by a government insensitive to the suffering of the Brazilian people”.

On Saturday, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, also said, via social media, that he will file a letter asking for investigations into the case. “There are strong indications of the crime of genocide and other crimes, which will be investigated by the Federal Police, according to the letter I will send on Monday (23),” he said.

Bolsonaro and Damares deny omissions

After the accusations, both the former president and the former minister spoke about the case. Bolsonaro classified the complaint as a “farce of the left”, said that care for indigenous health was one of the priorities of his government and listed actions provided to indigenous peoples during his mandate. Click to read Bolsonaro’s note in full.

The former minister, on the other hand, stated that she follows with sadness the images that are being released about the Yanomami, but that there was no omission by her ministry, nor by other areas of the government. She also said that malnutrition among indigenous children is a “historical dilemma aggravated by the isolation imposed by the pandemic” and that there were also deaths of indigenous people due to malnutrition in PT administrations. Click to read Damares Alves’ position.