Only 9 of 421 illegal mining sites in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, the largest in Brazil, had any type of police action, within a plan formulated by the Jair Bolsonaro (PL) government to attempt to remove miners who are illegally behind the region. of gold. This means that police raids only took place in 2.1% of the mining areas.
The finding was made by the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) in Roraima, in an investigation into the implementation of the operational plan formulated by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security for the removal of miners from the Yanomami territory. The withdrawal was a determination of the Federal Court.
Investigators who work directly in repression actions against mining claim that there are no aircraft available in Boa Vista to combat illegal activity.
An aircraft used by the Federal Police is located in Manaus, more than 600 km from the territory, according to these investigators.
The Armed Forces have refused to supply aircraft, and IBAMA (Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources) has only eight vehicles of this type to meet the needs of the entire country, according to sources heard by the report on the condition that anonymity.
Funai (Fundação Nacional do Índio) in Roraima does not have a plane available. The MPF does not have any aircraft.
In contrast to the blackout of air logistics support to repress mining on Yanomami land, more than 100 aircraft guarantee the illegal exploitation of minerals, mainly gold and cassiterite, according to investigations by the MPF and PF. Most are helicopters operated by businessmen who continue to profit from illegal mining.
A single group, with 12 helicopter pilots, generated more than BRL 200 million in two years. The group also made use of a shell company and transfers of funds abroad, according to an investigation by the PF revealed by the Sheet last Thursday (19).
The responsible businessman, Rodrigo Martins de Mello, is a pre-candidate for federal deputy for the PL, Bolsonaro’s party. He went on to coordinate a movement of garimpeiros that tries to legitimize criminal activity on the indigenous land and threatens to prosecute indigenous leaders who denounce them. Mello has not commented on the police charges.
PF, Ministry of Justice, Funai, Ministry of Defense, Army and Air Force did not respond to questions in the report about the lack of aircraft to combat illegal activities.
In a note, IBAMA stated that there is no “unavailability” of aircraft for its operations. “[O órgão] has a lease agreement for eight aircraft to support environmental inspection activities, environmental emergencies and forest fire fighting throughout the national territory,” he said.
Since Bolsonaro’s election in 2018, the number of miners in the indigenous land has exploded. There are 20,000, according to indigenous associations.
Vice President Hamilton Mourão (Republicans) disputes this figure and says that there are about 3,000 miners in the region. The number, however, is considered underestimated by people linked to the mining industry.
President Bolsonaro defends illegal activity, encourages mining in the territory and tries to regularize mining on indigenous lands.
The Ministry of Justice’s plan was drawn up in the context of Federal Court decisions forcing the removal of miners. There have already been decisions in this sense in the first instance of Justice, in the TRF-1 (Federal Regional Court of the 1st Region) and in the STF (Supreme Federal Court).
The lack of action at the illegal mining sites “shows, in addition, the absolute insufficiency of the protective measures in charge of the federal Executive”, said the MPF in Roraima in a recommendation issued on the 10th.
Federal prosecutors Alisson Marugal and Matheus Bueno recommended that the ANM (National Mining Agency) auction off 200 tons of seized cassiterite and allocate the funds to Funai to assist the indigenous people. The value is estimated at R$ 24.7 million.
The absence of police actions in the mapped mining points is just one of the problems in the fight against illegal activity in the largest indigenous land in the country, which next week celebrates 30 years of its demarcation.
Of the 277 support points used by miners, such as airstrips and clandestine ports, only 70 (25.3%) have been inspected since 2020, according to a survey carried out by the MPF.
Air support to combat illegal mining is crucial for a region that is difficult to access. River journeys are long and time consuming. Enforcement agencies rent flight hours from third-party partners for their operations.
The MPF’s recommendation states that, “at least on a constant basis, state forces do not have, or do not make available, aircraft that make it possible to carry out incursions into the IT with the necessary frequency. [Terra Indígena] Yanomami aiming to combat illegal mining”.
Mining on indigenous lands is prohibited by law. The Federal Constitution determines that the activity needs regularization and approval from Congress, which does not yet exist.
In 2020, the Court ordered the federal government to expel the miners from the region, which did not happen.
According to the MPF, 3,059 deforestation alerts were registered for mining on Yanomami land between August 2020 and February 2022. Deforestation reached almost 11 km². In a single month, in January this year, there were 216 alerts.
