The Brazilian government must act to stamp out illegal gold mining that has caused a humanitarian crisis of hunger and disease in the Yanomami indigenous population, mining industry lobby Ibram said on Monday.
An aerial view shows a wildcat gold miner, or garimpeiro, as he uses high-pressure jets of water to dislodge rock material at a wildcat mine, also known as garimpo, at a deforested area of Amazon rainforest near Crepurizao, in the municipality of Itaituba, Para State, Brazil, August 2, 2017. Picture taken with a drone. REUTERS/Nacho Doce/File Photo
Illegal gold mining, which surged during the previous government and is known as "garimpo" in Portuguese, is destroying the environment and the Amazon rainforest, said Ibram President Raul Jungmann.- who live on Brazil's largest indigenous reservation, near the Venezuela border - rely on for water and food, leading to malnutrition and disease. Heavily-armed miners are blocking health workers from reaching the Yanomami, authorities say.
He urged the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to put together a combined operation of police and military forces to expel the miners, whose numbers are almost at the level of the indigenous community itself. "I have no doubt there was a genocidal attitude towards the indigenous communities," said Silva, the daughter of Amazon rubber tappers who still suffers from health problems caused by drinking water contaminated by mercury when a child.
That has encouraged the laundering of illegal gold by specialized financial brokers known as DTVMs who then sell it to jewelry makers or for export.
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