Tragedy in Javari has the fingerprint of Brazilian necropolitics

The Climate Observatory is saddened and disgusted at the news that indigenist Bruno Pereira and journalist Dom Phillips were murdered in the Javari valley. Our thoughts turn to the families of both, in a pain that is also ours, for having had the privilege of knowing Dom and his kindness and professionalism.

Brazil, one of the countries that kills the most environmental activists in the world, now seed the replay of the tragedy of Chico Mendes, Dorothy Stang, Zé Cláudio and Maria and many others who did and do confront the criminals who torment the peoples and plunder the forest in Amazon.

In the Bolsonaro government, however, such atrocities have accomplices in the Presidency and in the Armed Forces. In addition to having deliberately turned the Amazon over to crime, the regime of Jair Bolsonaro reacted to the disappearance of Bruno and Dom with the same cruelty with which it treated the hundreds of thousands of Brazilians killed in the pandemic: the Army postponed the start of the search as long as possible; the president of Funai, who had exonerated Pereira because he had fulfilled his duty to protect the indigenous people in Roraima, washed his hands; and the President of the Republic blamed the victims, who, according to him, had embarked on an “undue adventure”.

Necropolitics, a hallmark of the current government, is also present in the deaths of Dom and Bruno. “In the Amazon, the bullet that kills journalists, activists and indigenous peoples is bought with money from land grabbing, illegal mining and stolen timber. Under Bolsonaro, these crimes have thrived and gained more power, and today they are more prepared than ever to eliminate those who cross their path,” said Marcio Astrini, executive secretary of the Climate Observatory. “By omission in searches or by encouraging criminals, the Bolsonaro government has its fingerprints all over this tragedy that saddens us all.”