Written by Nathália Clark
Tuesday, 09 August 2011 19:00
Nathália Clark
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Mainly threatened by loggers and seen as obstacles to drug trafficking, isolated Indians in the region that borders Peru, at the mouth of the Xinane River, Acre, are in danger of imminent carnage since the 23rd of July. About a week ago a group of Peruvian traffickers invaded the Kampa Indigenous Land and Isolated of the Envira River, dominated the Front of Protection Etnoambiental Envira’s post, and surrounded about five employees of the National Indian Foundation (Funai, in Portuguese). Among them is the general coordinator of the Isolated Indians and Recent Contact, Carlos Travassos, and the sertanista José Carlos Meirelles, former head of the Front.
Funai officials believe drug traffickers have invaded the area to exterminate the Indians in order to open escape routes for international trafficking. On Saturday (6th), traces of the group were found in the region where the station is. According to Travassos, they caught sight of a large and some other small camps. A suitcase with boxes of cartridges stolen from the base and a piece of arrow proven to be from the isolated peoples were found in one of the camps, confirming the evidence of the probable attack on the Indians by the armed faction.
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"This group is chasing isolated Indians, that is, carrying out an organized killing as we suspected. We now have definite proof. We are more than ever concerned about the situation of the isolated peoples. This can be one of the biggest blows experienced by the protection of isolated Indians operation in decades. It’s a catastrophe for the society. Genocide!” resentfully stated the coordinator by e-mail.
Officials are calling for reinforcements from the military. According to Carlos Meirelles, the base is surrounded on all sides. "It would be easier to catch them if we were to have the support of either the police or the army, since they are near by. But it is very difficult to do so if it’s only the five of us", he said.
About five days ago the Federal Police (PF, in Portuguese) carried out an operation in the region, with logistical support from the state and the army. They arrested the Portuguese Joaquim Antonio Custodio Fadista for the second time. He was wanted by the police for international drug trafficking and had already been detained and extradited to Peru in March this year for trespassing that same Indigenous Land. Despite evidence of the presence of other traffickers in the station vicinity, the PF left the place after the arrest of Fadista.
Funai officials are asking for government action. After five members resisted leaving the station, which is the only authority from the Brazilian state to safeguard the protection of the isolated groups territory, the president of the agency, Márcio Meira, said he is leaving to the post to monitor the situation this Tuesday (9th). He is trying to coordinate protective measures with the Ministry of Defense for the border of Brazil and Peru, home to the largest concentration of indigenous peoples in isolation in the world.
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