Lula gov’t announces permanent military presence in the Yanomami Indigenous Land and creation of the “Government House” in Roraima state

Measures were announced after Lula met ministers and means an investment of over US$ 246 mi in 2024

After President Lula (Workers’ Party) met with 12 ministers and authorities on Tuesday morning (9), the federal government announced what it considers a “turning point” in the combat against illegal mining and the humanitarian crisis in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, Roraima state.

The statement says that, instead of emergency incursions, the Armed Forces and the Federal Police will permanently occupy the region. In addition, it will create an “integrated governance space” for federal agencies in Roraima under the name “Government House”. An amount of R$1.2 billion (over US$ 246 million) will be invested in the initiative in 2024.

“We must treat the Roraima issue – the Yanomami people issue – as a state issue,” President Lula said. “We will need to make an even greater effort using all the power that the public sector can apply because it is unimaginable that we can lose a war to illegal mining,” he added.

A year after his administration began and launched an operation to combat the humanitarian crisis in the region, 20,000 invaders were expelled from the Yanomami territory, in addition to the destruction of dozens of machinery used by illegal miners. However, mining activities not only did not cease, but intensified again.

“It’s like a game of cat and mouse. Cats arrive, mice run away. Cats get out of the place, mice come back. Therefore, we want to restructure. The Brazilian state will have a new permanent structure in that region,” Rui Costa, Brazil’s Chief of Staff, informed. He also said that, after Carnival, a new model of territorial occupation with military personnel and federal police officers will be presented to the Ministry of Defense, headed by José Múcio.

The government also defined that the military will continue to deliver basic-needs grocery packages to Indigenous people by air transportation until March. After that, the Ministry of Management, headed by Esther Dweck, will coordinate the hiring of private companies for this logistics. According to the Ministry of Defense, from the beginning of 2023 up until now, about 36,600 basic-needs grocery packages were delivered to Yanomamis.

In a press conference after the interministerial meeting, Rui Costa said the joint actions between the ministries of Agrarian Development, the Environment and Indigenous Peoples will encourage “the resumption of the Indigenous way of life” in the region. “In other words, fishing and planting activities, thus guaranteeing food security that does not depend on the delivery of grocery packages."

Besides the president and ministers Rui Costa and Dweck, other authorities attended the meeting: Vice President Geraldo Alckmin, ministers Flávio Dino (Justice), Wellington Dias (Development and Social Assistance), Nísia Trindade (Health), Marina Silva (Environment), Silvio Almeida (Human Rights), Sônia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples), Márcio Macedo (General Secretariat of the Presidency), Alexandre Padilha (Institutional Affairs) and Paulo Pimenta (Communications).

Edited by: Geisa Marques