Missionaries in Brazil say the murder of an indigenous leader in the country’s rainforest sounds the alarm on recent policies that have opened up protected Amazon territory to mining.
By Linda Bordoni
Scalabrinian Missionaries in Brazil say the murder of an indigenous leader in the Amazon shines the light on a “truly alarming” situation that allows for the destruction of an extraordinary habitat for economic gain.
Emrya Wajãpi, leader of the indigenous Wajãpi people, was killed on July 23 in Amapá, a region in the far north of Brazil, bordering French Guyana.
According to witnesses he was stabbed to death by gold miners who entered the protected reserve of the Wajãpi community.
90% of the Amapá region is covered by the Amazon Rainforest and much of the area is officially protected, but recent government policy has opened the Amazon up to mining and this has led to growing encroachment on indigenous land – especially forests – by miners, loggers and farmers.
In a statement released after Emrya Wajãpi’s murder, Sr. Neusa de Fatima Mariano, superior general of the Scalabrinians, condemned his killing which she described as the “fruit of hate campaigns perpetrated against indigenous peoples.”
Calling it an “operation to destroy the indigenous peoples of Brazil,” Sr Neusa said “It is incredible how today there are exploiters of natural riches who, for their economic interests, have the possibility of entering the northern Amazon Forest and of killing a leader of the Wajãpi community.”
She said they are openly allowed “to invade a territory, destroy a society, and devastate an extraordinary habitat”.
Appeal to support the rights of indigenous people
Sr Neusa went on to declare the support of her Order for a campaign launched by the Brazilian bishops’ Indigenous Missionary Council that has forcefully condemned the operation conducted by the government.
She expressed her belief that instead of nurturing hate talk, the Brazilian government should “encourage respect for indigenous peoples, take measures against the ‘invasion of their land, uphold their rights”.
Rights monitors have denounced the killing of Emrya Wajãpi and expressed concern that it is part of a global trend of attacks on environmentalists.
Statistics show that in 2018, more than 160 land and environmental defenders were killed—many of them Indigenous.
Pan-Amazon Synod of Bishops
Highlighting his own, and the Church’s concern for our common home and for the rights and dignity of all peoples, Pope Francis has called for a Special Assembly for the Amazon of the Synod of Bishopson the theme: Amazonia: New Paths for the Church and for an Integral Ecologythat will take place in the Vatican in October 2019.
