Four illegal gold miners in Yanomami territory shot by Brazil's police

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 May 14:49

Brazil's Ministry of Environment says that officers were ambushed by illegal miners as they moved in to take down a wildcat mining camp.

People who were working in illegal mining arrive in boats at Porto do Arame after leaving the Yanomami indigenous land, in Alto Alegre, Roraima state, Brazil, February 12, 2023. (Reuters)

A statement issued by the Brazilian government read that four illegal gold miners were shot on Monday by Brazil's law enforcement and officers from the environmental protection agency on the Yanomami Indigenous reservation on Monday.

The Ministry of Environment said that officers were ambushed by illegal miners as they moved in to take down a wildcat mining camp.

The statement further highlighted the government's commitment to taking down wildcat miners after a Yanomami man was fatally shot by miners on Saturday on Yanomami territory.

Brazil's Minister of Indigenous People, Sonia Guajajara, said that nearly 80% of the 20,000 gold miners that are illegally exploiting the reservation have been expelled from the territory.

But the remaining others have shown resistance to expulsion through more violent means.

About 300 mining camps have been dismantled, Environment Minister Marina Silva said, noting that one helicopter and 20 planes have been destroyed by agents of the environmental protection agency Ibama.

When President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva assumed the presidency in January, he pledged to remove miners who were causing massive destruction to the environment, endangering animal species, and causing malnutrition and disease among the Yanomami people.

The first large-scale enforcement operation kicked off in February this year which saw most miners leaving the site.

Lula vowed to relaunch Brazil's environmental protection programs, fight for zero deforestation, and ensure that the South American giant is no longer a "pariah" when it comes to climate change, some of the many disasters that are blamed on former President Jaie Bolsonaro's draconian policies.