Documents Link Deaths of Indigenous Children to Mining Dredgers

[Judi Lynn]

Authorities are investigating the deaths of Kanamari children under the age of one and cases of severe mercury-associated diarrhea under the Bolsonaro government

Apr.5.2023 2:38PM

Vinicius Sassine

MANAUS
Documents from the Special Department of Indigenous Health and Funai (National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples) point to the deaths of Kanamaris children under the age of one due to acute diarrhea and severe dehydration, as a result of mining dredges in one of the most preserved regions of the Amazon.

Letters mention the decay in health, for the same cause, of other children under five years of age and the death of Katukina adults, also due to severe diarrhea.




TARAUACÁ, AC, BRASIL, 29-10-2017: Authorities are investigating the deaths of Kanamari children. (Foto: Avener Prado/Folhapress, COTIDIANO) - Folhapress

The case occurred in the region of the middle Juruá and Jutaí rivers, in the Amazon. Kanamaris live in the Igarapé Preto village, a non-demarcated territory. Katukinas are in the Rio Biá Indigenous Land, demarcated since 1997.

According to the federal government, deaths have a direct link with illegal gold mining and the release of mercury and heavy materials into the river whose water is used by the indigenous people.

Deaths of two children and illnesses of others occurred during the Jair Bolsonaro government, in 2019. And letters documenting this in a preserved region of the Amazon show that the brutal reality of the Yanomami people under Bolsonaro was not an isolated fact.

https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2023/04/documents-link-deaths-of-indigenous-children-to-mining-dredgers.shtml

[niyad]

1. Heartsick KNR