After Lula’s visit to Yanomani and the declaration of a state of emergency, the Federal Police will investigate whether the Bolsonaro government omitted the health crisis and whether the case is a genocide.
The Brazilian Federal Police confirmed this Wednesday that it will investigate whether the serious health emergency of the Yanomami indigenous people results from an alleged omission by the government of former President Jair Bolsonaro and that it could constitute a crime of genocide.
The investigation stems from the complaint filed by the Ministry of Justice, after verification of serious health situation in the Yanomami towns located in the states of Amazonas and Roraima, on the border between Brazil and Venezuela.
The complaint seeks to clarify the alleged responsibility of public officials and former President Jair Bolsonaro, replaced on January 1 by progressive leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, in the health crisis caused by invaders on indigenous land.
The Yanomami territory, the largest indigenous reserve in BrazilWith almost 10 million hectares, it is inhabited by around 27,000 indigenous people who, according to the new government, have suffered in recent years from lack of health care and abandonment and they were also harassed by illegal miners operating in the Amazon.
The complaint cites repeated requests for help submitted to the government by indigenous people since 2019, which were allegedly ignored by previous authorities.
Lula da Silva himself visited Yanomami land last Saturday, where he declared a health emergency of national importance in that region, to which reinforcements from the Ministry of Health and other public organizations were sent.
In a first balance of this operation, the Government reported on Tuesday that more than a thousand indigenous people, many with severe malnutrition, have already received emergency care.
According to the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, created by Lula da Silva, at least 570 Yanomami children have died “due to mercury contamination, malnutrition and hunger” in the last four years.
In addition to hunger and the degradation of the region’s rivers due to the mercury used in illegal mining, numerous malaria cases and other diseases.
In the opinion of the Minister of Justice of Brazil, Flávio Dino, if the alleged omission of the government is verified, it will be possible to know if “strong indications of the crime of genocide” will be proven, which is due to a deliberate attitude that caused this situation.
In four years of government, Bolsonaro promoted policies that encouraged mining, including illegal mining, throughout the Amazon region and, according to human rights organizations, dismantled the public structure intended to guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples.
The former president traveled to the United States on December 30, two days before the inauguration of Lula da Silva, and up to now he has not clarified when he intends to return to Brazil.
Source: Observadora
