MORAES ALMEIDA (Brazil), Sept 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Members of an indigenous tribe in the Amazon in northern Brazil on Friday called for wildcat miners to be allowed to prospect for gold on their land, saying it was a source of income.
Hundreds of miners and members of the Munduruku tribe in Para state blocked the BR-163 highway at Moraes Almeida town for five days, paralyzing the key transport route and halting hundreds of trucks loaded with soy, corn and gasoline.
The roadblock was lifted Friday afternoon after President Jair Bolsonaro’s government agreed to meet with representatives of the protesters on Monday in the capital, Brasilia.
The demonstrators are demanding wildcat miners be allowed to mine on indigenous territory.
“We just want (the government) to legalize wildcat mining, that’s all we want.”
The demonstrators vow to block the highway again if their demands are not met.
Bolsonaro, who came to power in January on a promise to open up the Amazon rainforest to more development, has called for the legalization of wildcat mining, including on indigenous land.
“Wildcat miners are the only ones helping people without jobs,” Carlos Augusto Cabace, a Munduruku leader at the protest, said.
The protest comes as thousands of fires rage in the Amazon rain forest, which has ignited a global outcry and diplomatic spat between Bolsonaro and European leaders critical of his handling of the crisis.
Para has been one of the worst affected states in the Amazon. This week several blazes could be seen near the roadblock and smoke mixed with dust hung in the air.
Thousands of trucks usually ply the BR-163 every day, transporting grain from Sinop in the central west state of Mato Grosso to ports in Miritituba or Santarem in Para.
Many drivers spent several days in the queue that snaked for kilometres along the asphalt highway. — NNN-AGENCIES
