Employees of Funai (National Indian Foundation) protested in 40 of the 47 units this Thursday (23) during the national strike of the category.
The group asks for the departure of Marcelo Xavier from the presidency of the foundation, a deep investigation into the death of the indigenist Bruno Pereira and the English journalist Dom Phillips and the reinforcement of security in Vale do Javari (AM), where the two were murdered.
“The servers that are there [no Vale Javari] they are alone, in a situation of great physical and psychological vulnerability. We want a Funai task force to work in the region, strengthening the servers that are in the regional coordinations”, says Luana Almeida, from INA (Indigenistas Associados).
On Monday (20), Funai officials asked for a meeting with the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Anderson Torres — to whom Funai reports. According to them, there was no response.
The ministry and Funai were approached by the Sheet this Thursday, but did not manifest themselves until the publication of this text.
The mobilization was approved on Friday (17) during a virtual plenary that brought together about 200 servers. The last strike of the category was in 2012, during the general strike of federal civil servants.
“Bruno died as a Funai servant. While he was murdered, quartered, charred and buried in a shallow grave, the president of Funai, who was responsible for Bruno as a servant, went to the national network to defame him, telling lies about him “, says the Funai employee and friend of Bruno Guilherme Martins.
The two worked together at Funai’s headquarters in BrasÃlia, when Bruno took over the General Coordination of Isolated and Recent Contact Indians. The indigenist took unpaid leave from the foundation after being exonerated from his position in 2019, and started to collaborate with Univaja (Union of Indigenous Peoples of the Javari Valley).
The statement by the president of Funai that revolted the category took place on June 8 in an interview with “Voz do Brasil” —official government news— and in an official note published on the Funai website on June 10, when Bruno and Dom were already missing for five days.
Xavier stated that the two should have asked for authorization from the government to enter the Vale do Javari Indigenous Land. Univaja contested the statement and stressed that the activities had authorization from Funai’s Regional Coordination. The association asked Marcelo Xavier to publicly retract, which did not happen.
A 172-page dossier produced by INA and Inesc (Institute of Socioeconomic Studies) points out that, under the Bolsonaro government, Funai has implemented an anti-indigenist policy, marked by the non-demarcation of territories, persecution of indigenous servants and leaders, militarization of strategic positions and emptying of the entity’s staff.
On the 7th, when the indigenist and the journalist were still missing, President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) stated that the two were on an “unrecommended adventure”. On the 16th, after the confession of the crime by one of the suspects, Bolsonaro wished feelings and comforts to the family.
Members of the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) told the Sheet that one of the hypotheses investigated is that the illegal fishermen involved in the murder are financed or armed by some criminal organization operating in the region.
