The deaths of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira echo that of Maxciel Pereira dos Santos, the Indigenous protection agent killed in cold blood three years ago
When Noemia Pereira dos Santos heard thatAn officer in Brazil’s Indigenous protection agency, Funai, Maxciel Pereira dos Santos had worked closely with Bruno. Tracing illegal fishing and hunting operations, seizing guns and ammunition – it was poorly paid, precarious work, which many believe cost both men their lives.
“He never told us about the dangers of the work, so that we would not worry,” said Noemia, 65, at her small home in Tabatinga as she clutched her son’s green uniform. “But he said it was a job for brave men.”Noemia dos Santos had not spoken publicly since Maxciel’s murder but said the deaths of Phillips and Pereira helped her to speak out and call for justice for her son.
During a career at Funai that spanned 12 years, Santos earned a reputation as a diligent enforcer of federal laws protecting Indigenous people in the region. He was involved in a number of seizures – of ammunition, meat and salt –in the valley shortly before he was shot dead, said members of the Indigenous rights advocacy group Univaja, who share the family’s belief that Santos was murdered because of his work.
“Bad people don’t die the way he was killed,” said Manoel Chorimpa, a Univaja member and former councilman in the riverside town of Atalaia do Norte.
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