SAO PAULO (AP) — An indigenous group in Brazil said Wednesday that its members have arrested 12 people for alleged illegal mining in the Amazon and handed them over to police.
The non-profit organization Urihi Associação Yanomami said in a statement that the incident took place on Tuesday in the northern state of Roraima, which borders Venezuela. The organization said its action was aimed at avoiding the risk of water pollution from mercury in mining.
Brazil’s Ministry of Indigenous Peoples confirmed that a dozen alleged miners, including 10 men and two women, were in police custody.
The Yanomami group filmed some of its members carrying bows and shotguns as they led the alleged miners to police. The detainees did not comment on the video. The Associated Press could not find a spokesperson for them.
The Yanomami community is the Amazon’s largest indigenous tribe and lives in relative isolation, with many of its members contaminated with mercury from widespread illegal gold mining, Brazil’s top public health institute said.
The Yanomami area, which covers an area the size of Portugal and has a population of 27,000, has suffered decades of illegal mining. The miners problem increased significantly during far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s four-year term in office, which ended in 2022.
The Yanomami group criticized the president’s government Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva about the continued presence of illegal miners.
Lula has promised to drive gold seekers out of the Yanomami area and improve health conditions, but indigenous leaders say his government has not yet achieved results.
On April 10, Pope Francis met with a leader of Brazil’s Yanomami people, who asked for papal support for Lula’s efforts to reverse decades of exploitation of the Amazon and better protect indigenous peoples. Francis told Yanomami leader David Kopenawa that he would speak to Brazil’s president about the issue.
The Amazon rainforest is an important buffer against climate change, and research has shown that indigenous-controlled forests are the best preserved in the region.
