Three illegal gold miners died during an attack on a Yanomami community on Monday (10), in the Palimiu indigenous community, on the banks of the Uraricoera river, in Roraima. The information comes from the president of the Yanomami and Ye’kwana (Condisi-YY) Indigenous Health Council, Junior Hekurari Yanomami.
According to him, who went to the local area in the afternoon to fetch a health team, five gold miners and a Yanomami were also injured. The indigenous man was grazed and is doing well.
Hekurari Yanomami said the gold miners took the bodies of the three dead back to the illegal camp. Via letter, the Hutukara Associação Yanomami reported that seven prospectors' boats arrived at the site around 11:30 am, starting a shootout that lasted about half an hour.
"We ask the agencies to act urgently to prevent the continuation of the spiral of violence in the area and to guarantee security for the Yanomami community in Palimiu", says the letter, sent to the Federal Public Ministry, the Federal Police, the Army and Funai.
According to the association, there are now about 20,000 illegal gold miners within the Yanomami Indigenous Land. This is an old problem that has been increasing amid promises of legalization by President Jair Bolsonaro (without a party) and due to the increase in the price of gold.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon