Narco-miners challenge government in Yanomami territory
In a single week, at least 14 people were murdered inside the indigenous territory, including a member of Brazil’s largest criminal organization – First Capital Command (PCC). In retaliation, the faction has sent out a message telling its members to target police and federal agents.
On the ground, it’s harder
The destroyers of the Amazon and of all the biomes are working together to keep their losses to a bare minimum under the new government and are already taking their first steps towards the 2026 election
In shamans’ dreams, the forest is crying
Morzaniel Ɨramari, the first Yanomami filmmaker, will shortly release 'Mãri hi: The Tree of Dream', a portrait of how messages from the forest reach the shamans of a people whose lives have been jeopardized by mining activities over the last ten years
The ruined lives of the doctors who saved the Yanomami
When they figured out that taking care of Indigenous health means taking care of the health of the forest, by impeding illegal mining, Deise Alves and Cláudio Esteves became the targets of political scheming, with bureaucracy serving as a weapon
The doctors punished for an indigenous health revolution
Deise Alves and Cláudio Esteves created a healthcare model that saved the Yanomami in the 1990s and early 2000s. But because they denounced illegal miners, their reputations have been destroyed and they are being asked to pay millions of reais to the government
Bolsa Família must change if it is not to aggravate Yanomami hunger
The Lula government wants to expand registration of the social welfare program in indigenous lands, but this alone will not be enough. The system of cash transfers must be adapted to the realities of different indigenous peoples. Without this, it could cause more misery and violence.
Nature is climate: We forget that at our peril
The disaster in São Paulo reminds us that we must reinforce the Amazon rainforest and other natural pillars that ‘hold up the sky'
Exclusive: Bolsonaro government knew of Yanomami crisis in 2020
A document sent to the Ministry of Health reported violence, illness, drugs and alcohol in the village of Kayanaú. The government failed to respond.
A plea to Lula: Staunch blood gold
The new president should revoke dubiously-enacted legal clauses that facilitate the purchase of gold criminally extracted from indigenous lands. These flawed legislation contributes to a humanitarian and environmental catastrophe
“Our lives are over”: The Yanomami villages devastated by mining
Residents of three regions invaded by criminal gold prospectors reveal how their communities have been destroyed by contamination, violence and prostitution. Their accounts highlight the disruption caused by the state's failure of care.
