Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Source in Yemeni Ministry of Defense to SABA: Yemeni "missiles will not cease targeting the criminal Zionist entity until the aggression is halted and the siege on our people in Gaza is lifted"
Source in Yemeni Ministry of Defense to SABA: Our missiles are designed to fragment if intercepted, hitting more targets
Source in Yemeni Ministry of Defense calls on investors, companies operating in the Israeli entity to leave immediately: SABA
Iranian foreign minister: The Omani Foreign Minister made a short visit to Tehran and delivered the US proposal to us, which we will respond to in a manner that guarantees the interests of our people
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: The points stipulate a willingness to hand over the administration of Gaza to the Community Support Committee and the occupation's withdrawal to the pre-March 2 borders
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: The clauses also stipulate a demand for a five-year truce
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: The clauses agreed upon by the factions include sending aid into Gaza in accordance with the humanitarian protocol agreed upon on January 17
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: We agreed to release 10 captives in separate batches in exchange for a number of our prisoners to be agreed upon through mediators
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: The [Palestinian] factions agreed on points that stipulated obtaining American guarantees for a complete cessation of the war and the full entry of aid
Senior Palestinian official to Al Mayadeen: We agreed to release 10 captives in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners to be agreed upon through mediators

Brazil launches largest operation against illegal farmers in Amazon

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: News websites
  • 6 Sep 2023 00:08
5 Min Read

Operation Eraha Tapiro or “Ox Removal” in the language of the Assurini Indigenous people, intends to regain state control over the Ituna-Itatá Indigenous Territory which has been victim to the worst deforestation during the term of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

  • x
  • An aerial view shows a deforested area of Amazonia rainforest in Labrea, Amazonas state, Brazil, in September 2021 (AFP)
    An aerial view shows a deforested area of Amazonia rainforest in Labrea, Amazonas state, Brazil, in September 2021. (AFP)

The biggest operation to remove thousands of cattle owned by illegal land grabbers from indigenous territory in the Amazon rainforest has been launched by the government in Brazil.

Criminal gangs have tried to block authorities by setting fires, destroying bridges, and intimidating drivers during an effort by the government using three helicopters, a dozen vehicles, and a heavily armed corps of police and environment rangers.

Operation Eraha Tapiro, which translates to "Ox Removal" in the language of the Assurini Indigenous people, intends to regain state control over the Ituna-Itatá Indigenous Territory which has been victim to the worst deforestation and invasions during the term of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has vowed to stop environmental abuse and has vowed to aim for zero deforestation ever since taking office. Since then, a campaign against illegal miners has been launched by the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, to drive them out of Indigenous territory under state protection.

Operation commander Givanildo Lima, an agent for the government’s main environmental protection agency, Ibama, described this as a politically symbolic operation in the Amazonian state of Pará.

Read next: Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon forest decreased by 68% in April

"The deforestation of Ituna-Itatá was planned and executed by a gang that had great political power. Making this operation successful demonstrates our ability to fight crime in the Amazon, which is increasingly organized," he stated. Ibama, federal police, traffic police, the indigenous affairs agency, and the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation were all involved. 

Spreading like fire 

In 2011, the government took a step to formally demarcate the Ituna-Itatá Indigenous Territory, an area of 142,000 hectares, home to an isolated community, the Igarapé Ipiaçava. As soon as the demarcation begins, non-Indigenous people will be prohibited from entering.

Related News

Brazilian artists urge Lula to sever ties with Israel over Gaza

Lula backs multipolar world in Beijing visit: The Guardian

However, local land grabbers, known as grileiros, began burning the land and infesting it with cows, which was exacerbated during the Bolsonaro presidency, leaving the Ituna-Itatá to be the most deforested indigenous area in the Amazon in 2019.

According to Ibama officials, the Rocha farm where the operation was launched, is owned by Danilo José Barros Rocha, and according to Adepará records, the company owns only 70 animals, but inspectors found 400 cattle in the area of 800 hectares (330 hectares already deforested) he illegally took and registered in the Rural Environmental Registry.

Although he was told his actions were illegal and he was ordered to remove the cattle last year, he failed to follow through and thus not only will his cattle be removed but he will be fined 500,000 Brazilian real (£80,000). Other illegal land grabbers are facing similar penalties. 

Grileiro WhatsApp groups have been hearing the news spread like fire in the village of Vila Mocotó, which is home to people who look after the cattle on behalf of the land grabbers.

Read more: Amazon rainforest requires global funding for protection: Lula

Denial of Indigenous existence 

Senator Zequinha Marinho, a Bolsonaro ally and their most known supporter, sent a letter to the government last year calling environmental agents in the Ituna-Itatá area "bandits and scoundrels" and continued to deny the presence of isolated Indigenous peoples despite evidence from anthropologists, settlers and other Indigenous groups that show otherwise. 

His office reiterated the claim to The Guardian, claiming that Ituna-Itatá was not indigenous land: "Senator Zequinha Marinho defends and will continue to defend the rights of farming families who have lived for decades in the area known as Ituna-Itatá and adjacent areas."

The economic power of the land grabbers could be weakened by confiscating the cattle, hence depleting their political significance. "The main cause of deforestation in this region has always been cattle. So, just apprehending the herds, causing financial loss to the invaders, can solve the problem," he said. But since compliance does not go as planned, fines go unacknowledged and ignored. 

Residents of Vila Mocotó were not armed as the operation's convoys passed through, but they did attempt to impede the removal of cattle by starting fires to scare the cows and scaring off the drivers of the convoys, while one wooden bridge was burned. 

Yet, federal agents rebuilt the bridges and made sure that the first batch of cows was transported across the Xingu River for slaughter in Altamira to be donated to social programs.

It is estimated by Ibama that the removal of the remaining 5,000 cows from the indigenous land will take several weeks. 

  • Brazil
  • illegal farming
  • Amazon
  • cattle

Most Read

US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump tensions

US judges quietly consider private security amid Trump pressures

  • US & Canada
  • 25 May 2025
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrive to a news conference in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington (AP)

Rift widens: Trump, Netanyahu clash in heated phone call over Iran

  • Politics
  • 26 May 2025
An Israeli army vehicle moves in the Gaza Strip as seen from southern occupied Palestine, Thursday, May 29, 2025 (AP)

Hamas rejects Witkoff ceasefire plan, says alters terms

  • Politics
  • 29 May 2025
Spokesperson for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announces a new operation against Ben Gurion Airport on May 29, 2025 (Yemeni Military Media)

Yemen announces successful hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion

  • Politics
  • 30 May 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Doctors weigh a Palestinian baby at the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic in Muwasi, near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 8, 2025 (AP)
Health

US-Israeli Gaza aid plan is catastrophic, inhumane: MSF

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on Latakia governorate on May 30, 2025 (Social media)
Politics

Israeli airstrikes hit military targets across western Syria

An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through part of the Uranium Conversion Facility just outside the Iranian city of Isfahan, March 30, 2005. (AP)
Politics

US, E3 to push IAEA to declare Iran in breach of nuclear commitments

A Syrian soldier closes the gate of a military base on the outskirts of Harasta, near Damascus, Syria, Saturday, May 3, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Syrians expel Israeli patrol in Quneitra amid rising tensions

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS