Brazil suspends raid on illegal miners in Amazon indigenous land
CGTN
Machines are destroyed at an illegal mine during an operation conducted by agents of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, in national parks near Novo Progresso, southeast of Para state, Brazil, November 4, 2018. /Reuters

Machines are destroyed at an illegal mine during an operation conducted by agents of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, in national parks near Novo Progresso, southeast of Para state, Brazil, November 4, 2018. /Reuters

Brazil's Defense Ministry on Thursday suspended operations by environmental agents against illegal miners on an indigenous reservation in the Amazon, saying it was acting at the request of Munduruku tribe members who wanted mining on their land.

The raid by environmental protection agency Ibama began on Wednesday, destroying excavators and water pumps used by wildcat miners prospecting for gold on rivers inside the reservation in Para state.

Indigenous organizations have denounced the deforestation and poisoning of rivers caused by illegal miners, who have invaded reservations in growing numbers encouraged by President Jair Bolsonaro's plan to develop the Amazon, including protected tribal lands.

The suspension ordered by the Defense Ministry followed a visit to the Munduruku reservation by Environment Minister Ricardo Salles to meet with miners and tribe members who favor mining.

A Defense Ministry statement said the operations on Munduruku lands were suspended "to evaluate the results in response to a request from indigenous people."

Munduruku representatives were flown to Brasilia in an Air Force plane for a meeting at the Environment Ministry, the statement added.

Bolsonaro, who has said he plans to legalize mining on indigenous reservations currently protected by Brazil's law, has in the past criticized the destruction of mining equipment used by wildcat miners.

In the northern Amazon, an ongoing gold rush has seen 20,000 miners invade the Yanomami reservation, threatening the environment and health of Brazil's last major isolated tribe.

A Greenpeace analysis said that 72 percent of the illegal mining in the Amazon in the first four months of this year occurred on indigenous lands or conservation areas.

Meanwhile, deforestation within indigenous territories in the Amazon rainforest skyrocketed in the first four months of 2020, increasing by 59 percent compared with the same period last year.

According to Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE), 2,248 fires were detected in the Amazon in June, which is the highest number recorded in June since 2007.

The burning season in the Amazon occurs most heavily in July, August, and September. Last June, INPE detected 1,880 fires using satellite imagery. But the 2019 Amazon fire has already caused potentially devastating effects on the global climate, according to scientists.

This year, environmental activists say that illegal loggers and ranchers have taken advantage of limited official resources during the coronavirus pandemic to increase their activity in the Amazon, burning wide swaths of the forest.

Brazil now has reported 2.92 million infections of COVID-19, the second most worldwide after the U.S.

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(With input from agencies)