Bolsonaro's Continuous Follies
AUGUST 7, 2020
by J.P. LINSTROTH
It seems every day since I last wrote about Amazonia and COVID-19 about three months ago, another Amerindian leader has died from Coronavirus, another knowledgeable elder gone, and more tragedy compiling upon tragedy not only in the Brazilian Amazon but throughout indigenous communities in Lowland South America. By any standard, at least in Brazil, the Brazilian federal government’s neglect of its indigenous peoples and the deleterious effects from the COVID-19 disease, are tantamount to genocide. Many observers, inclusive of anthropologists, journalists, NGOs, and jurists like Deisy Ventura have said as much in regard to investigating those responsible for Amerindian genocide such as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and his administration.
Today, August 5th, we have learned about the death of the Amerindian leader, Aritana Yawalapiti of the Yawalapiti people, Arawak language speakers of the Upper Xingu Region and Xingu National Park Reserve (Teritório Indígena do Xingu, TIX). Another recent notable death of an indigenous leader succumbing to COVID-19 was Paulo Paiakan of the Kayapó people on June 17th. Paiakan was a loquacious and exuberant leader of the Kayapó and their rights and especially important for influencing the 1988 Brazilian Constitution and inclusion of indigenous rights. Paikan also fought against the construction of the Belo Monte Dam, alongside fellow Kayapó Chief Raoni Metuktire and English musician Sting.
Other significant indigenous deaths were educator and leader, Higino Tenório, of the Tuyuka people of the Alto Rio Negro on June 18th and female leader, Bernaldina José Pedro of the Macuxi people on June 24th, important for her knowledge of Macuxi traditions of legends, songs, and artisanal crafts and for establishing a reserve for her people. In 2018, she briefly met with Pope Francis, giving him a letter, and pleading for his help for the Macuxi.
Another renowned leader was Acelino Dace of the Munduruku people who died on June 3rd. He also played a crucial role in demarcating his people’s territories near the Tapajós River and in the Brazilian government’s abandoning its project of a hydroelectric mega-dam at São Luiz on the Tapajós. Yet, Dace was not alone, 8 other Munduruku elders died within a few days of each other. As Bruna Rocha, archaeologist at Universidade Federal do Oeste do Pará, remarked in an interview with Mongabay, “Every time an elder dies, a library is burnt.” Moreover, Bruna averred: “Besides being knowledge repositories on the environment, history, territory, production of specific artifacts and medicines, these elders provide political and spiritual guidance, being fundamental in the struggle for territorial recognition. They remind their peoples of who they are in a fast-changing world.”
More:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2020/08/07/bolsonaros-continuous-follies/
This article mentions that it's widely believed Covid-19 is seriously underreported in Brazil, a claim I have read repeatedly for a long time. Clearly that's exactly what Trump has intended from the very first, when, as you recall, he attempted to get the passengers on a ship off shore in Washington or Oregon to stay out there so he wouldn't have them added to the country's number of illnesses.
