Members of the MPF (Federal Public Ministry) suspect that the authorizations by the minister of the GSI (Office of Institutional Security), General Augusto Heleno, to search for gold in one of the most preserved areas of the Amazon, seek to prepare the ground for mining in indigenous lands, a proposal defended by President Jair Bolsonaro.
The suspicion of prosecutors of the Republic who work in the Amazon region, heard by the sheet on condition of anonymity, it is due to the fact that Heleno allowed the advance of the mining in a place where there are predominantly indigenous lands and also due to the characteristic of the projects, which involve research, foreseen in the bill sent by Bolsonaro to Congress in 2020.
A sheet revealed on Sunday (5) that the GSI minister authorized seven gold mining projects in the region of São Gabriel da Cachoeira, in the extreme northwest of Amazonas, on the border with Colombia and Venezuela. The region, known as Cabeça do Cachorro, is one of the most preserved in the Amazon and one of the last frontiers of full conservation of the biome.
It is the first time, at least in the last ten years, that this mining research release has taken place for Cabeça do Cachorro. For the entire Amazon, Heleno has authorized 81 mining projects since the beginning of the Bolsonaro government.
The GSI minister is the executive secretary of the National Defense Council, a collegiate body that advises the President of the Republic on matters of defense and sovereignty. It is the secretary who grants the so-called prior assents, with guarantees for projects in the border strip, with a width of up to 150 kilometers.
The publication of the article provoked a reaction from indigenous representatives in the region, as well as environmental organizations and congressmen, who joined with representations in the PGR (Attorney General’s Office), in the MPF, in Justice, in the STF (Supreme Federal Court) and in Congress itself to try to stop the actions of General Heleno.
The MPF in Amazonas has instituted an investigation procedure to investigate and inspect the authorizations given by the GSI minister, given the socio-environmental risk of the measures.
In the view of MPF members, research permits may indicate larger projects, which depend on prospecting, unlike the so-called mining mining permits, which already guarantee prospecting in smaller areas. This is a type of garimpo that has become common in southern Amazonas and Pará.
The Executive’s bill sent to Congress is aimed at researching and mining minerals on indigenous lands, and allows mining permissions “exclusively in mining zones previously defined by the ANM (National Mining Agency)”. The initiative is at a standstill in Parliament.
The proposal foresees that the National Defense Council must be heard when the indigenous land is in a border strip. Heleno is the executive secretary of the board.
The Federal Constitution prohibits mining on indigenous lands, unless there is authorization from the National Congress and consultation with the Indians, which, to date, has never occurred.
Bolsonaro is an advocate of this resource exploitation. The bill sent to Congress seeks to regulate the articles of the Constitution that deal with the issue, with “compensation for indigenous communities affected by the restriction of usufruct over indigenous land”.
The MPF intends to investigate whether an attempt to circumvent the legislation may be taking place, with the approval of gold research projects in the Cabeça do Cachorro region and mining mining permits, which are simpler and more straightforward procedures, in other regions of the Amazon .
According to the FOIRN (Federation of Indigenous Organizations of the Rio Negro), one of the most important indigenous representation entities in the country, there are ten indigenous lands demarcated in the region.
Of the seven projects authorized by Heleno, six are in “Union territories”. At least two are in areas located between indigenous lands.
“We, who have inhabited this region for more than 3,000 years, in ten demarcated indigenous lands, express our indignation at the position of General Heleno, who demonstrates that he is exerting political pressure in favor of business interests in mining and garimpo”, stated the FOIRN, in a note released after the publication of the report.
The federation analyzes the release of gold research in the region and says that “it will take all appropriate and legal steps to not allow the most preserved region in the Amazon to be threatened by the predatory policy of the current government”.
Heleno defended his actions, the day after the article was published by sheet.
According to the minister, “it is legal to authorize the exploration/mining of minerals along the border, including the Amazon”. “Respecting the legislation and the environment, we will continue to map our wealth for the good of Brazil and our people,” he said on Monday (6), in a publication on a social network.
The general’s actions benefited companies with areas embargoed by Ibama (Brazilian Institute for the Environment of Renewable Natural Resources), including a company authorized to search for gold in Cabeça do Cachorro. There was also an endorsement from a garimpeiro who works with suction dredges in riverbeds in the Amazon.
Sought, the GSI did not comment on specific cases.
In a statement, the Ministry linked to the Presidency stated that there are acts of assent throughout the Amazon region, aimed at researching or exploring “various minerals considered strategic for Brazil in recent decades.” The processes are instructed by the ANM, according to the GSI.
“The granting of prior consent for gold research or mining in the Amazon region follows the same procedural rites as any other mineral, regardless of the region of the border strip in which it is located, under penalty of causing damage to the Union, states and municipalities if there were any kind of favoring from one region to another”, says the note.
Passing through the Defense Council maintains control and monitoring of activities in sensitive areas and provides important information for the president to make decisions, according to the GSI. “There was no evidence of legal impediment to the request of interested parties for the executive secretary to sign the acts of assent.”
The ANM stated that mining requirements can only apply to free and unencumbered areas.
“The ANM will not approve the application for any mining title if it concerns an encumbered area or an area with any other legal block, such as indigenous lands or full protection conservation units. The electronic application system does not accept”, he said, in note.
Extraction of minerals without authorization from the ANM or in areas with legal roadblocks is being investigated by the Federal Police, according to the agency.
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