Bolsonaro publicly announced his intent to fully legalize industrial mining on Indigenous-managed rainforest in Rondonia only a week or two before Rondonia’s forest was set on fire: So here’s a quick timeline of the incredible assault on Indigenous communities, invasion of Indigenous-managed Amazonian rainforest by developers, and Bolsonaro’s explicit plans to develop on Indigenous territories and clear rainforest, especially for mining … all of which happened in one mere month preceding the now-infamous Rondonia fire of August 2019.
Remember how about a single week or so before the giant raging fire was almost certainly deliberately set in Rondonia’s rainforest, Bolsonaro happened to announce his plan to fully legalize gold mining and Brazilian state-backed industrial mining on the Indigenous territory of the Yanomami people [Roraima and Amazonas states], the Munduruku [Para state], and the Cinta-larga people [Rondonia state]? And at a press conference that same week, Bolsonaro also said: “You have to understand that the Amazon is Brazil’s, not yours. […] [Developing the Amazon is] fulfilling a mission from God. […] You want the Indigenous people to carry on like prehistoric men with no access to technology, science, information, and the wonders of modernity. Indigenous people want to work, they want to produce, and they can’t. They live isolated in their areas like cavemen.” Remember how only like two weeks before the giant raging fire in Rondonia’s Amazonian rainforest was set, [1] the Hutukara association representing the Yanomami people reported that, over the past few months, between 10,000 and 20,000 gold miners had illegally invaded the Indigenous territory of Yanomami Park in Amaonian rainforest, which is one of Brazil’s largest Indigenous-managed territories, leading to increased malaria cases and deliberate setting of forest fires? [2] Then, a week later, a respected Indigenous leader in the Wajapi Indigenous reserve (Amapa state, in Amazonian forest) was murdered? [3] Then, three nights after that, 50-100 armed gold miners invaded Wajapi Indigenous territory as they mourned the loss of their leader? [4] And then, after some public outcry, Bolsonaro commented that he didn’t believe the Wajapi story?
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Early July 2019: The Hutukara assocation and Yanomami leader Davi Kopenawa publicize their account that between 10,000 and 20,000 illegal gold miners and associated land developers are currently present on Yanomami land, in Amazonian rainforest of Roraima state near the Venezuelan border. Yanomami and concenred journalists suggest that the recent influx of gold miners is due to Bolsonaro’s closure, in late 2018, of 3 monitoring bases that were located at Yanomami Park which used to scare off illegal land developers looking to sneak onto Yanomami territory. [Source.]
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19 July 2019: Bolsonaro says this at a press meeting with international journalists: “You have to understand that the Amazon is Brazil’s, not yours. […] [Developing the Amazon is] fulfilling a mission from God. […] You want the Indigenous people to carry on like prehistoric men with no access to technology, science, information, and the wonders of modernity. Indigenous people want to work, they want to produce, and they can’t. They live isolated in their areas like cavemen.” [Source.]
At the press conference, Bolsonaro explicitly clarified his intent to move forward with legally opening Indigenous territories of Amazonia for industrial mining, including on the territory of the Yanomami people [Roraima and Amazonas states], the Munduruku [Para state], and the Cinta-larga people [Rondonia state]. Previously, in January 2019 and immediately after his inauguration, Bolsonaro formally transferred the regulation of Indigenous reserves to the agriculture ministry, which is functionally controlled by the agribusiness lobby.
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23 July 2019: Emyra Wajapi, an Indigenous leader of Wajapi reserve, is found stabbed to death near his home in Waseity village, Amapa. [Source 1; Source 2.]
Photo of Emyra Wajapi.
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26 July 2019: Following the assassination of Emyra Wajapi, at least 50 non-Indigenous gold miners, some armed with machine guns, invade the Wajapi reserve, at the neighboring Indigenous village of Yvytoto. [Source 1; Source 2.]
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29 July 2019: After public outcry about the Wajapi murder and invasion, Bolsonaro tells Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper that “there is no strong evidence” that a murder occurred, and that the death was unrelated to any possible gold miner presence. “I will seek to unravel the case,” Bolsonaro said.. [Source.]
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The Rondonia fire is part of a larger assault on Amazonia.
