Tribe Mundurucu Bashny.Net

War Mundurucu tribe living in Brazil for many years trying to deal with gold miners who have encroached on their land. The tribe has many times appealed to the authorities in the hope of help, but again, no answer has decided to act independently.




Already night came when the warriors of the tribe Mundurucu landed on the bank of the river Tropas, a tributary of the Tapajos, in the west of the Brazilian state of Pará. Five boats of armed men arrived here with one aim: to expel the miners, who are illegal work on the lands of the tribe. At the entrance to the mine, they met two people working here.



"You have ten minutes to get out of here. Collect things and leave and never come back here no more, "- said the head of the detachment Paigomuyatpu (Paigomuyatpu), whose stern face adorns the battle color.



Working dutifully begin to collect things, to quickly leave the land of the tribe Mundurucu. Soon they are joined by ten people with the mine. They have to give up here, eight excavators, which they used for the extraction of gold. The workers say that these machines belong to Alexander Martins (Alexandre Martins).



Martins, also known by the nickname Tubaina is a local businessman who owns at least two more mines in the lands Mundurucu. Representatives of the tribe have repeatedly complained about the illegal activities of gold miners, but no action officials and did not take, limited formal replies and empty promises.



Then the men of the tribe Mundurucu came to the conclusion that it is useless to wait for help from the authorities, and decided on its own to restore order in their own land.



Illegal gold mining began to conduct here in the '80s, so that tolerated the presence of strangers local debt.



Activities miners creates a lot of problems: the rivers are polluted, the fish disappeared, to the local residents are constantly receiving threats.



"Gold miners have brought a lot of harm to our lands. Our people have to leave their homes, there are many diseases. We just have to put an end to this for the sake of future generations, "- says Paigomuyatpu.



In mid-January, the soldiers began to detour Mundurucu their territories, checking the situation on the tributaries of the Tapajós: Tropas rivers, Kaburua, Kadiriri and Kabitutu. In total, they have withdrawn from the twelve miners excavators. Machinery taken to the main village of the tribe, and now leaders decide what to do with them.



Excavators can be useful to have mechanized production of the tribe, but also they can sell and get money for the development of other industries: fish farming, production of flour, production of nuts and honey copal resin.



Mundurucu leaders are hoping for assistance from the State Fund for Indigenous Peoples (National Foundation of the Indigenous (FUNAI)), which supplies fuel for boats tribe. Representatives of the Fund approve the initiatives Mundurucu expulsion of "black gold miners" from its territory.



Since the Fund began to work in the region in 2010, the leaders Mundurucu constantly complain about the miners. In 2012, FUNAI has been achieved by the police conducting the operation to close illegal mines, but soon they began to work again.



To the leader fell Mundurucu threat, and between the members of the tribe and gold miners began to regularly clashed.



The situation in the territories Mundurucu present tense. Already it established that the radio transmissions between the warriors and chiefs tapped. Human rights activists say that at least five of the leaders of the tribe sentenced in absentia to death.



In the region there are armed groups of fighters who defend the interests of miners. Leaders Mundurku believe that these gangs is Tubaina.
"Tubaina strikes fear in the whole district, walking around in the villages with a gun in his hand. And no one dares say a word to him. He does not care that the territory of indigenous tribes have the right to bear arms only federal police officers and representatives of the FUNAI », - says a local resident Valmar Kaba (Valmar Kaba).



In recent years, local residents blocked with stones and sticks two runways to prevent the return of evicted miners.



According to a local resident Leuza Kaba (Leuza Kaba), Tubaina death threats led the observation station Osvaldo Varo and his children.



One of the workers, soldiers fired from mine Mundurucu, says about the miners and Tubainu say many untruths. He does not call his name, sounding just Shorty (Shorty).



"I worked in the mines in this region for six years. People talk a lot of nasty things about the miners. Many slander erected on Tubainu, but he's a good person and help people ", - said Shorty.



He makes no secret that he intends to return to the mine, located in the territories Mundurucu. Said Shorty two months ago was released from prison, which was the murder of a man at one of the gold mines located on indigenous lands. Some claim that this is not only the death of the conscience of Shorty, according to the magazine "Green» Earth First!



The leaders continued to write letters to the police and other state authorities, warning that the situation is heating up and may end in bloodshed.



Add that Mundurucu is one of the most active indigenous tribes of Brazil. In the spring of 2013, the tribe held a large protest against the construction of hydropower plants on the river Tapajos.



Source: pryf.livejournal.com