Yanomami accuses government of prioritizing the region in the distribution of resources

With a task force underway in the Yanomami Indigenous Land since January 20, following the decree of a public health emergency, the federal government has announced actions to increase the distribution of food and medicine and expand medical care for indigenous people. At the same time, there are actions coordinated by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security (MJSP) to keep prospectors away from the region.

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 factions, such as the PCC and Comando Vermelho, which command mining activities and use the region to sell drugs, is also questioned.

According to data from the Ministry of Health released on Saturday (24), 129 indigenous people residing in Terra Yanomami have already died in 2023; there are several records of preventable causes of death, such as malnutrition, pneumonia and tuberculosis. By way of comparison, throughout the year 2022, 209 Yanomami deaths were recorded. In just six months there have been 62% of the deaths accounted for last year.

“The number of deaths that remains as high as before shows that there are no health actions that meet 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 the territory continue to be forgotten, ”he laments.

For the Yanomami leader, one of the reasons for the concentration of actions in the Surucucu area – which was chosen, for example, for the installation of the Indigenous Health Reference Center, inaugurated in April – is that the current president of Condisi Yanomami, Júnior Hekurari, belongs to the region.

Hekurari, who is also president of an NGO, was one of the most visible characters at the beginning of the year, when the crisis in Yanomami Land was exposed. The activist was a staunch supporter of Lula in last year’s presidential campaign and has good influence in the current government.

Judge condemns government to reduce social vulnerability of Amazon indigenous people

The lack of assistance in other locations in the region 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, under conditions food insecure and at risk of death. The judge ordered the government to act to avoid 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 the indigenous leader.

Other side

A People’s Gazette asked the Ministry of Health, which coordinates the Yanomami Emergency Operations Center (COE), to take a stand on the information published in this article. Here is the note sent by the folder in full:

“Faced with the humanitarian crisis of lack of assistance found in the Yanomami Territory, the Ministry of Health adopted emergency measures to save lives with strategic actions inside and outside the territory. Since the declaration of a Public Health Emergency of National Importance (Espin), more than 25,000 medical visits to indigenous people found in a serious situation of lack of assistance in the region.During this period, more than 132 children with malnutrition were discharged and gained weight following the protocol drawn up by the nutrition teams.

The Ministry of Health also sent more than 200 professionals from the National Force of the SUS to work in team rotation throughout the territory and 14 doctors from the Mais Médicos program were assigned to reinforce the teams in the health services.

Regarding Surucucu, this region concentrates the health units that were closed and the highest number of removals and deaths in recent years. For this reason, the approach chosen for the Surucucu region was the setting up of a Reference Center for Indigenous Health to care for emergency cases and treat cases of malnutrition and malaria.

It should be noted that Sesai carries out intense actions for assistance, removals, delivery of basic food baskets and medicines throughout the territory and in several regions, such as Auaris, Missão Catrimani, Palimiú, Surucucu, Maloca Paapiú, Yarotobi and Marauiá”.