The number of Yanomami Indians slaughtered this week by miners is
not fourteen not nineteen, but 73. It is a genocide, as attorney
general Aristides Junqueira rightly recalled. This genocide, however, did
not begin now, but in 1987, when the first massive invasions of the
Yanomami territory by miners were registered. Since then, at least about
2 thousand Indians have been killed, which means that 15% of the total
Yanomami population have been exterminated.
Of these deaths, at least 22 were murders committed by miners. Almost
all Indians were killed with firearms, and some were clubbed or stabbed
to death. The miners killed men, women and children alike, and impuned
prevailed. Since then, constant conflicts between the Yanomami and
invaders have been taking place, probably involving other homicides.
Because the Indian territory is located in a remote area which is difficult
to access, many cases of aggression are not registered at all.
Most Yanomami were killed by diseases, particularly malaria. Although
it is endemic in the region, malaria became a tragedy for the Yanomami
since their lands began to be invaded. More and more outbreaks of the
disease were registered as the miners advanced, socially disorganizing
several communities. Debilitated by the disease, the men could not hunt or
fish to feed their families. Undernourished, the Indian population became
more susceptible to other diseases, such as tuberculosis. In some
villages, 80% of the population died.
Last year alone, about 4 thousand Yanomami caught malaria; 78 of
them died. The year before, 6,788 cases of the disease were registered, with
79 deaths. In spite of the operations that were carried out to remove the
invaders, no measures were taken to prevent them from the returning.
Presently, the government itself calculates that 600 miners are active in
the area, continuing to bring diseases and death to the Indians.
But the miners are not the only ones to be blamed for the genocide.
They invaded Yanomami lands because they were allowed to. In 1990, just
before the end of his term as Preesident, Jose' Sarney created three
mining reservations in the lands of these people, as an attempt to
consolidate the invasion. Mining businessman Jose' Altino Machado led the
first massive invasion of the area by miners in 1985. The army troops
stationed at the Indian area took no measures to prevent invaders from
entering it. Politicians and businessmen of Roraima have been promoting
campaigns to put and end to the demarcation of the Yanomami Indian Area
by encouraging actions such as the massacre that took place this week.
Therefore, all of them are also responsible for the genocide of the Yanomami.
Brasi'lia, August 20, 1993
CIMI - Indianist Missionary Council